Silver as the Moon, Black as the Night
by Moonmist18
Summary: Far away, in a place she's only dreamed of...she's spoken about. Unknowing, untrusting, until a true friend comes along. And then...gone. Taken away. And now it's worse than it was before...and she's ready to leave her home forever. Chapters 1-3 edited. CHAPTER 13 IS UP!
1. The Vulpes Saltus

The Vulpes Saltus

I stalk carefully, eyes silently tracking the red-brown scrap of fur before me. My tail twitches slightly, and I quickly still it. _If that brushes against some bracken…_ I don't even want to think about it. The prey doesn't even know I'm here; it's so occupied with eating the acorn it's found. A mere tail-length away, it senses me and prepares to run. Too late. I've caught and killed it.

I doubt I'll find any more prey. It's leafbare, after all. Still, I keep my senses on high alert. _At least this squirrel is fairly plump. Maybe it'll keep me fed long enough to actually hunt before I'm hungry again._

I'm nearly at my den when I smell it. The scent of another cat! _Whoever invaded __my__ den is going to pay!_ Growling, claws extended, and teeth bared, I stalk into my den.

Sitting within is a trembling, emaciated she-cat. She looks eerily like me—silver fur, blue eyes, and unusually long whiskers. It doesn't save her from my wrath, though.

I hiss, furious. All that trouble, preparing myself for battle, just for a half-dead cat? Why didn't I smell that before?

The cat before me cries out in fear. "P-please don't hurt me! I-I was j-just looking f-for a place to stay! I s-saw this den, and it-it looked nice, and s-so I came here," she stutters.

The cat notices the squirrel in my mouth, and has the audacity to stare at it. "So you invade my den, the expect me to share my hard-earned prey with you? No way!" I snarl.

The she-cat stares at her paws. "I-it's just, I'm s-so hungry. I haven't had anything to eat for a w-week. And that-that was just a skinny woodmouse. It would have died from starvation soon anyways.

I feel myself weaken against my will. _She looks so much like me…and felt hunger like I have._ I hadn't been able to hunt for a few moons after Copper, my mother, died. I'd survived by eating crowfood and plants my mother had taught me in those four moons I had with her.

I shove the squirrel over to the she-cat. "I have no idea why I'm doing this, but I am. Now eat it before I change my mind! What's your name, anyways?" I add.

"I-I'm Mist," she whispers.

"I'm Silver. Now are you going to eat that squirrel or not?" I ask. "Cause I'm plenty hungry."

Mist looks rather scared again. _Great StarClan, does __everything__ frighten her?_ "I'm sorry, you can have it if you want." Her whisper has become barely audible.

"I was _joking_. Now eat!" She finally does, taking large bites and barely chewing.

"I'm sorry for stealing your prey. I'll help you hunt," she says. Although the freshkill has clearly strengthened her—her eyes are much brighter, and she sits straighter—I doubt she's well enough to hunt yet.

"No, you stay here. I'll help you recover. Now, have any scratches, cuts, ticks, or bruises?" I ask. _Good thing my mother was able to teach me about healing herbs as well._

"There's a small thorn in my left front paw, I've got a couple scratches from some brambles, and, well, I've been having nightmares," she reports.

"I'll get you some herbs. Now, make yourself a nest and lie down. Are you thirsty? There's a stream not too far from here, I can get you some water if you like," I respond.

"That would be great."

I'm soon back with a dripping wad of moss. "Drink this. I'll find some herbs for you."

Mist lies quietly in her nest, lapping at the moss ball. Before too long, I have everything I need but poppyseed. _Where's the poppyseed! There was a bunch of it around here somewhere!_ Just then, my nose catches a whiff of its slight scent. I open my mouth slightly to catch it better.

Having finally found the poppy, I'm back with everything I need. I apply cobwebs, soaked in a poultice of chervil, comfrey, dock, goldenrod, and marigold, and pluck out the thorn. "A few poppyseeds will send you right to sleep," I tell her, shaking out three.

She laps up the seeds, and sure enough, she drifts off quickly. I tidy up the den, and go to sleep myself.

In my dreams, I once again am on my quest for the poppyseeds. But now, I notice red eyes staring at me. I jerk awake. _Were those there in real life?_ I wonder. I think back. _They were. I'd better be careful._

* * *

_A/N: First story, first chapter! Read and review, please!_

_UPDATE: Thoughts changed from single quotes to italics, per Mothstar's request. Thanks for letting me know about that!_

_UPDATE 2.0: Totally rewrote this, as you can see. Made it longer, changed the perspective too. I read the original and actually winced. I feel I've improved enough over the other chapters to rewrite this one much better._


	2. My Mother's Spirit

_Author's Note: Apologies that we haven't gotten to the Warriors part of the story yet, don't worry, we will soon!_

_A/N (Updated): More like in Chapter 7...sorry *sheepish grin*_

* * *

My Mother's Spirit

I stretch as I wake up. Suddenly, the scent of another cat enters my nose! My body stiffens up in anticipation of the unavoidable fight before me. _Mousebrain! You should have known you were too hungry to smell old catscent!_ I hear growling coming from outside, and gulp. This cat sounds vicious! _Face it. This mistake probably just cost you your life._

The cat I had scented and heard stalked into the den, with claws extended and teeth bared. She stops and looks at me, taking in my emaciated body and the scent of illness that I know radiates from me. I immediately notice the freshly killed squirrel hanging from her jaws—and how similar she is to me. Blue eyes, long gray fur—although hers looks more silver—and delicate, extended whiskers.

"Please don't hurt me!" I cry, terrified. "I-I was j-just looking f-for a place to stay! I s-saw this den, and it-it looked nice, and s-so I came here." _Maybe if I can convince this other she-cat I'm no threat, she won't hurt me._

The cat looks annoyed, and my heart sinks. That's when she notices my gaze towards her squirrel. "So you invade my den, then expect me to share my hard-earned prey with you? No way!" the she-cat hisses.

I freeze. _Well, I'm pretty much dead anyways. I might as well explain._ "I-it's just, I'm s-so hungry." I stare at my paws and scuffle them in the dirt floor of the den. "I haven't had anything to eat for a w-week. And that-that was just a skinny woodmouse. It would have died from starvation soon anyways." _I remember that mouse. I was so proud I caught it, too. That is, until I finished eating it…and my stomach continued to rumble. I was barely able to make it here. Mom, you promised that you would take care of me. Why did you have to die? And then Dad did too…. Are you both really watching me? Is that why you brought me here? At least I'm with another cat. A cat that's about to kill me, but a cat nonetheless. Maybe a quick death would be better than a long, painful one from hunger._ I prepare myself to die.

But the she-cat's eyes have begun to soften. _Mom, is that your sprit shining in this cat's eyes? Is that why she's going to let me live?_The other cat shoves the squirrel over to me, looking embarrassed. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but I am. Now eat it before I change my mind! What's you name, anyways?"

"I-I'm Mist," I mew. _Even if it isn't you, Mom, thanks._

"I'm Silver," she replies. "Now are you going to eat that squirrel or not? Cause I'm plenty hungry."

_Oh no! I shouldn't be taking away her prey! She caught it, it should be hers…. _I'm filled with guilt, and a memory of Mom teaching me always to share fills my mind. "I'm sorry, you can have it if you want," I whisper.

"I was _joking_. Now eat!" I finally start into the squirrel. It's tender and juicy, and surprisingly large for this late in leaf-fall. As soon as I start, I can't stop. "I'm sorry for stealing your prey. I'll help you hunt," I meow as soon as I finish eating. I feel much better—the effect one piece of freshkill makes is astonishing.

"No, you stay here. I'll help you recover. Now, have any scratches, cuts, ticks, or bruises?" Silver asks, all business.

"There's a small thorn in my left front paw, I've got a couple scratches from some brambles, and, well…" I hesitate on the last part; can any herb help me with them? "I've been having nightmares," I finally say.

Silver doesn't seem fazed at all by my list of injuries. "I'll get you some herbs. Now, make yourself a nest and lie down. Are you thirsty? There's a stream not too far from here, I can get you some water if you like," she responds.

"That would be great," I mew. I'm incredibly thirsty; I haven't been sure where any streams are. I busy myself with making a nest, and by the time I'm done, Silver is already off to find water for me.

Silver steps back in the den with a ball of moss, dripping wet. "Drink this. I'll find some herbs for you."

I lie in my newly made nest, lapping at the wad of moss. It's the best thing I've ever tasted. I've drained it dry before long, and Silver still isn't back. _Where is she? What if she's hurt? What if a fox or-or a badger, or something caught her, all because of me?_ I'm about to leap from my nest to try to track her down, when she pads in the door, carrying bundles of herbs. Silver puts cobwebs soaked in what she tells me is a mixture of comfrey, marigold, dock, chervil, and goldenrod juices. It feels so amazing, I sigh in relief.

Next, she shows me a plant with tiny black seeds. "A few poppyseeds will send you right to sleep," the silver cat tells me. She shakes out three. I lap up the seeds obediently, and they send me right to a dreamless sleep.

A few hours later, I wake up. I notice Silver is trembling in her sleep. I pad over to her. "You okay?" I whisper, half of me not wanting to disrupt her rest. She opens her eyes and stares at me—only her stare isn't her own. Her eyes glow red, and she seems…darker, somehow. She growls at me, and it sounds less like a cat's than a wolf's. Frightened, I back away. "S-silver?"

She doesn't move from her nest—whatever dream she's having seems to have paralyzed her, thankfully. She's speaking now, muttering words I can't make sense of—"Betrayal…learns…trust…_kill_." At the last word, her eyes snap shut, and her slumber turns peaceful once again.

I lay in my nest, trying to sleep. A few minutes later, Silver seems to have woken up for real, looking shaken. I quickly shut my eyes and pretend to be sleeping. She pads over to me, checking to see if I'm okay. Satisfied, she goes back to her nest and falls asleep quickly. On the contrary, I stay awake the rest of the night, only managing a few minutes of rest at sunrise.

* * *

_UPDATE: Again, thoughts changed from single quotes to italics. Don't thank me, thank Mothstar. Okay, and me for getting sick of accidentally hitting the Shift key and putting double quotes instead of single, and choosing to use Word's handy-dandy auto-italic-if-you-put-underscores-around-a-paragraph feature._

_UPDATE 2.0: Added more of Mist's thoughts, tried to make it cattier. Mothstar, my beloved beta-reader, thought it sounded too 'foxy'. So, hopefully this is better!_

_UPDATE 3.0: Rewrote this completely, as you can see. I've extended it and changed the point of view. Chapter 3 is the last one I'll be revising like this, and don't expect new chapters for a while._

_Another A/N: Wow, that last part sounded pessimistic and cynical._


	3. Magpie!

_A/N: It's Chapter 3! Enjoy!_

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors (if I did, Spottedleaf would have stayed around for a few more books). I don't own anything else you may recognize (unless it's from earlier in the story, of course)._

_CLAIMER: I do own Silver and Mist. Please PM me if you would like to use them. Random note: I accidentally typed 'sue' instead of 'use' on this claimer._

* * *

Magpie!

I awaken to a beautiful sunrise. Not that I'm in a mood to enjoy it, after caring single-pawed for another cat for a half-moon. And Mist _still_ isn't any better. She can sit up and feed herself, yes, but that just makes her more exhausted—and hungrier. _And it being leafbare certainly doesn't help._ _Well, those mice won't catch themselves. Be nice if they did…_

For a moment, I allow myself a moment to dream of a world where mice deliver themselves straight to my paws.

_Oh, well. All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy._ I shake myself. _Where did __that__ come from? It's like in that fanfiction from Mothstar about the kid who gets turned into a human…_ I feel even more alarmed. _Fanfiction? Kid? Human? What does that all mean? And where did I hear the name Mothstar? Weird name for a cat. Face it, Silver. You've put too much stress on yourself, and now you're going crazy. You should just take the day off. Mist can go without freshkill for __one day__._

I glance over at Mist, still painfully thin even with as much freshkill as I can find her. _No, she can't._ Sighing, I resign myself to the hunting task set to me.

At sunhigh, I take a break from hunting. I have nothing to show for my efforts except a skinny rabbit and a few mice. _It's just going to get harder as the snow sets in. __Why__ did Mist have to come during leafbare?_

A leaf rustles next to me. I freeze. _Prey!_ Stalking lightly, unsure if it was a mouse or shrew, I'm within a rabbit-length of the prey when I see it. I bite back a gasp. _A magpie! That would keep both Mist __and__ I fed for a day or two!_ More determined than ever to catch it, I creep stealthily forward.

I'm almost to it when it senses my presence and begins to fly. Summoning all my strength, I leap into the air and seize the magpie's clawed foot.

"Gotcha!" I mew proudly. Cawing loudly, the magpie is pulled slowly back to the ground, where I kill it quickly and efficiently. _Might as well head back. That cawing must've scared all the prey off. Not that I need any right now,_ I think, slightly smug. Proud of my catch, I head home.

My timing is impeccable, as Mist is just waking up. "Oh, hi Silver," she says sleepily. Spotting the magpie, her eyes jerk open. "Wow! You caught that! That's amazing!" the silver she-cat exclaims. "I'm so sorry I still can't help you hunt, but I can barely walk, let alone stalk."

My anger at Mist had disappeared when I caught the bird I now hold in my jaws. "S'okay, I'm using it to improve my leafbare hunting skills."

"I'm sure they could use some improvement." Mist's eyes sparkle with amusement. "Mine too, probably."

"I don't know how you'd know that! You've been cooped up here for half a moon!" I purr playfully. "All this hunting has made me hungry! Let's eat!" Without further ado, both of us dig into the magpie.

"Mmmm. Best I've ever had. Wonder why it's so fat and juicy, it's the middle of leafbare," Mist wonders.

"And don't I know it!" I mew cheerily. Upon seeing my friend's sad look and apparent sudden loss of appetite, I add, "Hey, don't worry about it. Keep eating. You need to keep up your strength if you're going to be able to help me hunt, after all." I stand and stretch*. "Here, have the rest. I'm not that hungry, I'll go look for some herbs."

"You sure?" Mist looks worried. "I wouldn't want to cause you too much trouble."

"Course I'm sure. Now, are you feeling those scratches?" I ask.

"Nah. They're fine. I've…been having nightmares again, though." Mist looks reluctant to admit it.

"Say no more. I'll find some poppy seeds before you can say 'magpie'!" I mew lightly.

As I leave my den, I hear the call of 'magpie!' coming from behind me.

"Very funny!" I mew, laughing.

Despite not _quite_ being fast enough to get the poppy seeds before Mist could finish her word, I'm back before nightfall. I shake out a couple, and Mist laps them up gratefully. "Thanks, Silver. I'm going to take a rest now." She curled up in a warm corner, sharing tongues with me. "'Night."

* * *

As the full moon rose, several ominous pairs of blood-red eyes watched Silver. Or was it that they were watching Mist…

* * *

_A/N: Oooh, cliffhanger! Hope Mothstar liked my little references to her and her story. And YAYZ! Two whole pages on Word! That's a new record to me!_

_Review and I'll give you your very own little references. That's right, you could be famous! Just review! I've opened the story to anonymous(e) viewers!_

_UPDATE: Changed the POV, made a few slight changes. Not nearly as drastic as Chapters 1&2, though. Those were much worse than this one. So, enjoy!_

_*: "my glossy fur rippling with light, even in the dim illumination of the cave"? Really? *cough* Mary Sue *cough* We'll she is-oops, almost spoiled the plot! But she does have flaws. They become more apparent later on, though._


	4. The Dark Wolves Rated T

_ A/N: Any and all opinions expressed by any and all characters in any and all of my stories are theirs alone and may or may not be my actual opinion on anything._

_Oh, and this is one of the chapters that's the reason why this story is rated T. Beware if you easily get nightmares!_

_And Flamebeast, sorry that your references weren't quite as subtle as Mothstar's; she has more content for me to work with. But I did my best. Oh, and this chapter is three pages long! A NEW RECORD! *squees*_

_Also, nice cliffie, if I do say so myself *polishes nails on shirt*._

I wake up, stretching. Glancing over, I see Silver is still asleep. _I feel a lot better today. I'm full from that magpie, I got a decent night's sleep for once…I think I'm going to see just how bad my hunting skills have gotten, _I think, purring to myself.

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. /|\

_A/N: This is my new line break indicator. It's a KITTY! See it? xD_

Once out in the early morning air, I feel…freer. I've been going _crazy_ cooped up in that cave. My nose twitches, detecting the scent of rabbit. Licking my lips, I slowly begin stalking it. Barely a tail-length away, it detects me. _Mouse dung!_ I run after it. Although my legs are weak after a half moon of little exercise, I'm almost as fast as ever. The rabbit didn't have much of a head start and I catch it quickly.

Purring, I think, _Sprinting worked, although jumping in circles like Pinkie Pie probably wouldn't. Wait. Why would I know about Pinkie Pie? That's a character on a little kid's show! Huh. Must be from Flamebeast's profile._ Alarmed, I stop dead in my tracks. _Pinkie Pie? Kid? Flamebeast? I don't know what any of these are!_ _I must have exercised too much. I am such a mousebrain! I should have waited for Silver to wake up and then __asked__ if I could go hunting._

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. /|\

Carrying the rabbit, I walk wearily back home. I wasn't too tired, though, to see the red eyes glinting from behind bushes, in old badger sets…watching me. Shivering, I continue walking back home. _Should I tell Silver?_ I shake my head. _Nah. She'd get all worried, and she's stressed already._

I pad in with my catch clamped firmly in my jaws. "Mist!" Silver exclaims. "I was so worried! I was about to go looking for you! What were you _thinking_, going hunting so soon?! I _told_ you when I started taking care of you that you needed to stay in the den for a moon. It's barely been half of one! Really, what were you _thinking_?" Mist cries, pacing back and forth.

"It's just…you seemed so stressed, from taking care of me. I thought I might as well help out a little," I murmur, scuffling my paw in the dirt floor of the den. The shallow line I create is perfectly parallel to another, larger one from Silver pacing back and forth. Silver _is_ looking a bit more relaxed, now she knows I'm safe…

"I can tell how worried you were! You literally paced a ditch in the floor!" I mew, purring.

"Hey!" Silver cries in mock anger. "Why, I oughta…" Suddenly she gets a steely glint in her eyes.

I gulp and crouch before her. Who knows what chores she would have me doing now? "Mist, as punishment for this terrible transgression, _you_ will be the one filling in this 'ditch in the floor'," says Silver somberly.

"Yes ma'am!" I mew, standing up and hiding my amused purr. "Right away, ma'am!" I know Silver didn't really mean it, and sure enough, soon she is helping me fill it in.

"It was rather birdbrained of me to be pacing right where we sleep, wasn't it?" Silver remarks, seeing if the area was level enough yet.

"It takes one to know one!" I reply cheerily. "_I_ certainly wouldn't know. Why don't you talk to my friend?" I add, pushing a mouse towards her.

"Are you calling me a mousebrain?" Silver asks in mock offence. "I think you should talk with _my_ friend!" I look down to see the same mouse at my paws.

"OK, OK, we should stop. If that mouse gets pushed around any more, it won't be fit to eat!" Both of us purring happily, we continue with our work.

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. /|\

_Four seasons later_

"Mouse!" I hiss, looking at Silver.

"Which direction?" she whispers back, adding, "I smell rabbit that way!" as she points toward the stream.

"Towards that huge rock," I murmur back. "Let's split up, they're in opposite directions." Silver barely nods, careful not to brush against any bracken.

I stalk the mouse carefully, and kill it quickly. Almost immediately, I smell magpie. I begin following the scent trail. Soon, the magpie is nearly within my reach. But I get the feeling I'm being watched…. I look around. Those glowing red eyes I've seen before surround me. But now, they have an intensity that's very, very, new.

These eyes are ready to kill.

I run. I run faster than I ever have before. But I wasn't running for my life then.

Those eyes are still following me, but the animals that own them remain in the shadows, bodiless. I find myself at the edge of an enormous canyon. A stream below is barely a rabbitlength wide, although I know it's really a huge river a foxlength across. This is not a good place to fight. I burst into a clearing, and those red eyes now have bodies…

Wolves. Huge, black wolves. Wolves with enormous fangs. Fangs that drip with blood…. They're the creatures from my nightmares.

I run faster, faster, ever faster. They follow, not even panting, although I am panting hard. I try to drink dew from passing leaves, but one always snaps at me, never enough to part the skin, but easily enough to keep me from drinking. Those teeth are so sharp they clip my fur easily.

I continue to run, into the forest now. The wolves don't disappear into the undergrowth like they have before. They have spotted their prey, and they are here for the kill. I can't run much longer. I stumble, and almost fall into the pack…but they part to let me through. They are not done chasing me yet. I continue to run, but I stumble again and again. That's when I see her. From fur silver as the moon, her fur is now as black as the wolves. She's joined them to kill me.

Silver.


	5. Running Endlessly Rated T

_A/N: Well, people (okay, Mothstar) seemed to enjoy the first-person-er, cat perspective, so I'm continuing it. PLEASE DON'T FAVORITE WITHOUT REVIEWING. Also, this is another one of those T-rated chapters, so, again, skip if you get nightmares easily. And as for the cliffe, don't worry. I'm writing and uploading Chapter 6 right after this. But it was just such a beautiful place to end the chapter, don't you think? So, please please please read and review! Oh, and I'm going to be switching perspectives a bit in this chapter, just letting everyone know. And (just barely) FOUR PAGES! NEW RECORD!_

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own the line from Warriors. That belongs to the Erin Hunters and HarperCollins publishing. Nor do I own any other lines that may seem familiar._

_CLAIMER: I do own the wolves, Mist, Silver, and the Vulpes Saltus. If you would like to use them, please PM me. I will most likely allow you to use them. BUT ASK FIRST. Or I will be very mad and report you. And also block you from my stories. Thank you._

Running Endlessly (Rated T)

I look around me. All I can see is swirling white mist. _W-Where am I?_ A cat that looks remarkably like my mother, Copper, although with blue fur instead of gray, pads up to me. _It can't be her! She's dead! Wait. Does this mean…that I'm__ dead?_

As though reading my thoughts, the cat assures me. "Don't worry, Silver. You aren't dead." _How does she know my name?_ I try to speak to the she-cat, but find myself practically paralyzed. "I'm here to deliver a message," mews the cat. She sits, spine perfectly straight. Her eyes begin to glow, eerily green as she delivers the prophecy.

"The precious one will be betrayed,

And until she learns her loved one stayed

So to forgive her, she will not trust,

Until rivers run red, and kill she must."

The blue cat's eyes become normal again. She speaks again, her meow filled with love. _It is my mother._ "And, Silver, don't forget…" I awaken before I can hear the rest of her message. But, what's that sound in the distance?

The sound snaps into focus, horribly clear. It's Mist. And she's shrieking. Shrieking in pain, in fright. And it's coming straight from the gorge!

"Mist!" I cry. "Mist, don't worry, I'm coming!" All I hear in reply is her horrible, horrible shrieking.

I run full-blast into a clearing. Mist is running from a pack of huge, black wolves. I run to her, but she hisses at me and bite me on the forehead. I shake my head, confused, ignoring the blood I spray everywhere. That's when I notice my fur. It's changed color. Now, my fur is black, as black as the wolves. "No!" I cry.

_Mist_

Silver begins to approach me. I hiss at her, and bite her on the forehead. _Stay away! Don't cause me any more pain than you have already…_ Silver shakes her head, seeming to be confused. But I know better. She's a traitor. But then she cries, "No!" and I can't be imagining the pain and terror in her voice. Maybe it really is her…

"Silver?" I ask. "Is-Is it really _you_?" She looks at me with relief. "It is you!"

"Of course! Did you really think I would join those wolves?" she says, her eyes darkened with grief.

"No, never! It's just, I was confused, those wolves, chasing me…" I trail off.

Her eyes soften with understanding. "I'll split off. Our…" she stops speaking, listening to something I can't hear.

"Silver?" No response. "_Silver?_ " _No, no, I can't be losing her again. "Silver!_"

_It's no use. She's gone,_ I think. _No, no! Mist, snap out of it!_ "Mist!" _Wait. Who's talking?_ I look to the side. Silver is looking at me with concern. "Mist, you okay? Those wolves, they stopped talking…but their mouths were still moving."

"I-I think, I think they were only speaking to me. Making their thoughts mine," I mew. "It happened to you, too."

"Of course…"

_Silver_

The wolves are still running at full speed. I turn to Mist. "I'll split off. Our…" I stop. The wolves, they're talking.

"The precious one will be betrayed,

And until she learns her loved one stayed

So to forgive her, she will not trust,

Until rivers run red, and kill she must," they drone, then repeat themselves.

_ No. No! My mother knew that prophecy! Is she…_ It's almost too painful to think of it, but I do anyways. _Is she…one of the wolves?_ I can distantly hear Mist calling my name, but this thought is crippling me, not letting me answer. Then, they stop suddenly. But the wolves still seem to be talking…I glance over at Mist. Her eyes are glazed over, although she is still running. "No. Not her. You can't take her!"

Their eyes gleam evilly, saying, "Yes we can. And nothing you can do can stop us."

"No, no! Mist, snap out of it! Mist!" I cry. Her eyes focus again, and I almost cry in relief. "Mist, you okay? Those wolves, they stopped talking…but their mouths were still moving."

"I-I think, I think they were only speaking to me. Making their thoughts mine," Mist replied, shaking from fear. If these wolves can speak directly into our minds, what other horrid powers do they have? Mist continues. "It happened to you, too."

"Of course." Relief courses through me. If the wolves can speak into our minds, perhaps they can read them. But then comes another realization, this one much more terrifying. "Mist, my mother spoke to me in a dream. The wolves repeated her message. But I don't think she's gone over. The wolves can read our minds."

She stares at me, horrified. _If they can read our minds, no plan will work against them. And if they can't, it means my mother has joined them…_

All this time, we have been running. Sprinting, really. But neither of us has faltered. We are hungry. We are thirsty. But we continue to run. _We can't win,_ I think. _There's only two of us._ _Two of us…_ I'm reminded of my earlier plan.

"Mist, let's split up," I mew. "I'll head toward the stream."

I dash towards it. Glancing behind, I see that none of the wolves are following me.

_We don't want you__._ The wolves' voices are speaking in my head. _All we want is that other one._ I see the wolves behind Mist, grinning evilly. _Pack, pack. Kill, kill,_ they bark at me, almost merrily. For this is what they take pleasure in most. The chase before the kill. And they will kill. _Unless…_

I make my way back to Mist. "I'm sorry, but I know too much," I say.

_Mist_

Silver splits off and starts pelting towards the stream. But her plan has failed. None of the wolves are following her. And they're talking to her again…Silver runs back, next to me. "I'm sorry, but I know too much," she says. _Her eyes…there's something different about them…_ I realize what it is. _They look a little too much like the wolves'…_

It's the last observation I make before Silver shoves me over the edge of the gorge.


	6. Betrayal Rated T

_ A/N: Okay, here's Chapter 6, as promised! Don't favorite without reviewing, please. Don't forget, reviewing gets you referenced in my story! And yes, another T-rated chapter. Don't worry. These chapters should end soon. And I'm thinking of starting ANOTHER story. Ever notice how there's never two cats with the same name at the same time…__**in all the Clans**__? There aren't even kits that look around the same in the same litter? Can you say a bit suspicious? So, what would happen if two kits that looked exactly the same were born? Hilarious-ness, that's what! __**NO TITLE YET**__, a Warriors comedy. PM me YOUR idea for a title and it might get used!_

_ DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Warriors series (if I did, Spottedleaf would have stayed around for a few more books.). I don't own any other lines you might recognize from other places._

_ CLAIMER: I do own Mist, Silver, the wolves, and the Vulpes Saltus. If you want to use them, please PM me and ask. I will probably let you use them._

Betrayal (Rated T)

_Mist_

_ I should have known I couldn't trust her. Fur doesn't change color for no reason at all!_ I glare at Silver, my stare filled with grief, with betrayal, but most of all, with hatred. I don't know where my last words come from, but they seem right. "Enjoy the Dark Forest!" I snarl. Then I crash into the stream, and think no more.

_Silver_

Mist glares at me, hatred in her eyes. _Mist, I'm so, so sorry. But those wolves would have killed you too. Just slower, more painfully._ She's snarling at me, saying words I don't understand. "Enjoy the Dark Forest!" _What? What's the Dark Forest?_

I'm still running when I hear the wolves getting farther away. They jump off the cliff. They plummet into the water. But they aren't dead. _No! Mist died from that fall. You should too! That's not fair!_ I see their heads bob above the water. Their pawstrokes slice easily through the water.

They are swimming towards Mist.

_You had the last minutes of her life. You can't take her after death, too!_ I prepare to jump into the gorge myself. But the wolves are passing her by, swimming towards a deadly waterfall. They tumble over, black against white. They swim on.

I pad wearily towards my den. I smell mouse nearby, and my body drops into the hunting crouch of it's own accord. I catch it and take it with me.

When I enter the den Mist and I share-no, used to share, I am painfully reminded of her. The mouse we had pushed around-it's become somewhat of an inside joke-still lies on the floor. The ditch we filled in together still carries our pawprints. A rabbit we caught together is in our fresh-kill pile. Her nest still carries her scent. The whole den still smells of us, together.

I grit my teeth against the memories that threaten to overwhelm me. My eyes fill with tears, and I curl up in my nest wearily.

_Traitor._ That's the first thing I hear as I open my eyes. _Where am I?_ I look around, and spy…_myself_ running next to me? _What?_ I look behind me. _No. No!_ I am running from the wolves again.

Only this time, I am Mist.

I am the one they are after.

I am the one to be killed.

I am the one who will be betrayed.

I see myself split off, running towards the river that's rich in fish. I see understanding spark in my eyes. I hear myself say, "Sorry, but I know too much." And I feel Mist's pain at my own betrayal.

I go crashing into the stream. And the last thing I seem to see are cats, stars glimmering in their pelts. _Where am I?_

That's when I wake up. Mist's absence hits me again. _Mist, are you with those cats?_

I can only hope.


	7. The Aftermath

_A/N: This chapter might be rated T for suicidal thoughts and stuff like that, but nothing graphic. And Warriors is introduced in this chapter! Due to me not reading the books in a while, I'm just making up my own Clans. I also realized that I have totally forgotten to thank my brilliant beta-er, Mothstar! Thank you! You are awesome! *showers her with rose petals* *grants all her Clans good hunting* Immense thanks also go to her for allowing me to base some of my cats off of hers to help with the allegiances!_

_Quick recap for those skipping the T chapters: Mist and Silver encounter evil wolves, which chase them. The wolves are after Mist. Silver realizes they will never be able to defeat the wolves, so she has to kill Mist by shoving her over the edge of a gorge. Silver has had nightmares ever since, all doing with Mist's death._

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors (if I did, Spottedleaf would have stayed around for a few more books). I don't own any other things you may recognize._

_CLAIMER: I do own Silver, Mist, the wolves, the Vulpes Saltus, LakeClan, StormClan, ShadeClan, and GustClan. Please PM me if you would like to use them. Thank you._

_A/N 2: I am SO SO SORRY for not uploading this for the longest time. The allegiances were annoying me and slowing me down, so I'm just going to put them in another chapter and not deprive you of what little story I've written. Again, I apologize for the delay, and also for the ridiculously short chapter that is half author's note xP. And this will be the last chapter for a while, as I'm going to be focusing on my new fanfic, __**Fanfics Collide**__. Apologies for that as well, but I tried to write a bit more on this, and it was fox dung. So, I'm doing you a favor. I'm co-writing __**Fanfics Collide**__ with Mothstar, my awesome beta-er! First chapter should be out soon._

The Aftermath

I wake up, eyes bleary. _Where am I?_ I recognize the stream where I split off in a desperate attempt to save Mist. I've been sleepwalking more and more lately. I always arrive somewhere along Mist and I's desperate trail away from the wolves. I'm just lucky I haven't walked over the edge of the gorge yet. _Or unlucky. Nothing's been the same since Mist died._

My jaws part in a yawn. _Might as well head back to the den._ I spy a rabbit, but it senses me long before I can catch it. _Oh well._ My hunting skills have deteriorated much in the moon since Mist's death. Her death by my paws. I haven't starved yet, although I really wouldn't care if I did. I've lost the only cat I ever loved (_A/N: She means AS A FRIEND. I don't write slash or femslash!)_. Why should I want to live? But I carry on with the motions of life. Hunting, sleeping, eating…it all blurs together.

I somehow manage to catch a mouse on my way back, despite my pawsteps that are heavy with grief. A cold, clear pool provides water. _Strange, I haven't seen this pool before._ The water tastes abnormal, somehow. Maybe it's poisoned. I don't really care. I mean, I haven't actively encouraged my death, it's not like I've been marking the spots of deathberry bushes. But I haven't encouraged life, either. I'm stuck in a strange, in-between limbo. I've almost stopped drinking-every time I do so, I see the scar on my forehead-a perfect star, the color of mist. Reminding me of what I did.

I eat the mouse before cleaning up the den a bit. My nest is always in shreds by the time I wake up, although Mist's nest is safe behind a wall of brambles. It still carries the slightest whiff of her scent.

Soon I'm back out, looking for herbs. Nothing much. Unsurprising, considering it's leafbare. I plunge into a stream for a quick swim. I do this every day, to keep Mist's memory alive.

Eventually I make my way back to my den. Curling up, I soon fall asleep. Unusually, I don't have any nightmares of Mist's death tonight. Instead, I dream of a cat with a pelt made of water, standing in a tree with three other cats, although I cannot see them as well. The water-cat is calling my name, although it's somehow different.

When I wake up, I'm in some dark place. Although it isn't my nest, I don't panic. I've been waking up in bizarre places since Mist's death. But this place smells of other cats!

I sniff, and my nose fills with the scent of milk. I instinctively crawl towards it. I feel so frail and weak…. I haven't felt this way since I was a tiny kit.

A loud wail enters my ears. "Streamstar, come quickly!" I cautiously open my eyes. A tortoiseshell she-cat is calling.

The water-cat I saw in my dreams has entered the den. "What is it, Spottedpelt?"

The she-cat—Spottedpelt—tells the water-cat, whom I assume is Streamstar. "I took a quick nap. When I woke up, all of my kits were gone, and this," she nudges me with her paw, "kit was here in their place! Mosskit will be so worried!"

Streamstar glances at me, and seems to hold in a gasp. He covers up by telling Spottedpelt that he'll "check with Redberry right away," and pads out of the den.


	8. Allegiances and a new POV

_A/N: Okay. I've decided to break the mold and not do real allegiances at all (*sings* only shooting stars break the mold)! I'm just going to list the leader, deputy, and medicine cat of each Clan instead. If I feel like it, I might give you peoples better allegiances, one Clan at a time. But for now…_

_Oh, yes, and Silver received a prophecy from her mother in one of the T-rated chapters! Here it is:_

_The precious one will be betrayed,_

_And until she learns her loved one stayed_

_So to forgive her, she shall not trust_

'_Till rivers run red, and kill she must._

_This chapter's story idea: Ever notice how every Clan ALWAYS has a medicine cat? I mean, Spottedleaf died, and oh look, ThunderClan just HAPPENED to have taken in a fully trained medicine cat. What would happen if a Clan was left without a medicine cat? Who knows? Not me, this idea is UP FOR ADOPTION!_

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors (if I did, Spottedleaf would have stayed around for a few more books). I don't own any other things you may recognize (unless it's from earlier in the story, of course xP)._

_CLAIMER: I do own Silver, Mist, the Black Pack (those wolves), GustClan, LakeClan, StormClan, and ShadeClan. Please PM me if you would like to use them. Thank you._

Allegiances (and a new POV)

**GustClan**

_**Leader: **_Swiftstar: A tom with strikingly green eyes and gray fur. He's unusually long-legged, and hostile towards other Clans. In fact, he was the one who accidentally (so he claims) killed Streamstar's mate.  
_Apprentice: None_

_**Deputy: **_Breezeeye: A she-cat with ice blue eyes and tabby fur. Friendlier to other Clans, although is very suspicious of new leaders.  
_Apprentice: None_

_**Medicine cat: **_Grassbreeze: A tom with amber eyes and a brown pelt. He's a horrible hunter because his tail is always flicking from side to side like grass in the wind, thus his name. Although he doesn't have a very strong connection with StarClan, he is excellent at interpreting dreams and prophecies.  
_Apprentice: __Runningpaw__: A she-cat with light green eyes and a calico pelt. She has an excellent connection with StarClan._

**LakeClan**

_**Leader: **_Streamstar: A tom with deep blue eyes. He has very glossy blue fur, which ripples like it's made out of water. He's very friendly with the other Clans. Although he has a personal vendetta against Swiftstar, he doesn't let that affect his decisions with the Clan as a whole.  
_Apprentice: __Willowpaw__: A she-cat with long, soft gray fur and blue eyes. She is very kind, although she isn't very patient with other kits. She was the only in her litter, and strangely, only two other kits were born before she was apprenticed._

_**Deputy: **_Redberry: A tom with reddish fur and amber eyes. He is very supportive to his Clanmates, especially when a cat has died. However, he is a bit too argumentative with other Clans.  
_Apprentice: None_

_**Medicine cat: **_Rushleg: A she-cat with tortoiseshell fur and blue eyes. The tips of her ears are white. A monster injured her gravely, and although she recovered fully, she was fascinated with the herbs that helped with her recovery.  
_Apprentice: None_

**StormClan**

_**Leader: **_Lightningstar: A tom with tawny brown-red fur and piercing yellow eyes. He is very friendly towards kittypets and loners, although any creature that dares harm any of his Clanmates should watch out.  
_Apprentice: None_

_**Deputy: **_Whiteclaw: A she-cat with white fur and green eyes. She's friendly towards other Clans. She absolutely abhors battle, and the only reason she became a warrior is because the medicine cat already had an apprentice. She's excellent at hunting and fighting, however, she's never killed or even scarred another cat.  
_Apprentice: None_

_**Medicine cat: **_Oakleaf: A tom with brown fur just like leaves before they flutter to the ground and orange eyes like oak leaves in leaf-fall. He knows every herb that grows on StormClan territory and a few that don't. When the medicine cats meet at the half moon to visit the Mooncave, he always brings some herbs that grow solely on StormClan territory to trade with the other cats, who bring herbs as well.  
_Apprentice: __Rainpaw__: A she-cat with blue fur and eyes. She's very talented at getting kits to take medicine, and came up with the idea to use poppy seeds to dull pain while setting broken bones and such._

**ShadeClan**

_**Leader: **_Nightstar: A she-cat with black fur and dark brown eyes. She is very hostile with the other Clans, although she gets along (slightly) better with Swiftstar.  
_Apprentice: __Shadowpaw__: A tom who shares his mentor's ideas about the other Clans. He has darker than usual tortoiseshell fur, and green eyes._

_**Deputy: **_Pinestep: A tom with green eyes and a totally black pelt. His tread is as soft as a pine needle falling to the ground (_A/N: Yes, I know that pines are evergreens. But the needles can't live FOREVER, can they?_), and just the mention of his sneak attacks strikes fear into the heart of any sensible cat.  
_Apprentice: None_

_**Medicine cat: **_Blackclaw: A tom with amber eyes and a brown pelt. Although he's a medicine cat, he's trained in the use of deathberries, and he's used them…how many times, no cat knows….  
_Apprentice: __Yewpaw__: A she-cat with reddish fur and blue eyes. She's much kinder than her mentor, and refuses to learn about the berries she was named after._

(_A/N: Hey look! More story!_)

I look frantically around the Clan camp for Redberry, but he's nowhere to be seen. I walk as casually as I can to Rushleg's den. "Hey, have you seen Redberry?" I ask him.

She looks up. "I think he just went out on a border patrol. Why?"

"Oh, just needed to ask him a question. Thanks!" I pad out of the den and rush out of camp, giving a quick nod of greeting to the guards. As I look for my deputy, the prophecy I had received rings in my head (_A/N: Yeah, yeah, I'm a sucker for prophecies. Now read it!_).

_When water meets a shining cat,  
__The Clans will act as though never met.  
__Beware the ones besides nests of rats,  
__If paws pad too soft, the whole forest they will get._

Miststorm, my beloved mate, had delivered the message. She had also said not to share the message with anyone but Redberry. An odd decision, but I was going to respect Miststorm's last wish.

After seeing that strange kit, the first line had immediately become clear in my mind.

I burst into a clearing, and see Redberry. "Thank…goodness I've…found…you," I mew, panting hard from the run.

But all he does is look at me as though we've never seen each other before today. "Who are you? And why are you in my territory?" he snarls.

And with that, he leaps at me, prepared to kill.


	9. Every Cloud

_A/N: Hey! Lookie! It's the next chapter! By the way, a description of LakeClan's camp will be helpful in this chapter. It's on an island in the middle of a rushing river. Stepping stones under the surface lead to the camp, only LakeClan cats know where they are. Tall reeds surround the camp as well, hiding it from view. Woven among the inner layer of reeds are thorns and brambles to discourage any attackers. Inside the camp is the Highstone, a tall stone worn smooth by rushing water. This is where the Clan leader goes to call meetings and give announcements. At the base of the Highstone is a small cave, the entrance guarded by more reeds. It's the leader's den, and in the back is a path leading to the top of the Highstone. To the left is the medicine cat's den. The elders' den is to the left of the medicine cat's, and the warriors' is to the left of that. Going left again, you come upon a bunch of reeds tangled so tightly together, they're pretty much like stone. There are ledges going all the way up, so if you wanted to, you could climb to the top. In fact, warriors and apprentices often do, when they're guarding the camp. To the left of __that__, you have the nursery. Right next to the nursery is a dirt clearing where kits love to run around and play. Go left again and you're back to the Highstone. In the middle of the camp is the fresh-kill pile. So, onto the claimer and disclaimer!_

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors. If I did, Spottedleaf would have stayed around for a few more books. I don't own anything else you may recognize, unless it's from earlier in the story xP._

_CLAIMER: I do own Silver, Mist, the Black Pack (those wolves), GustClan, LakeClan, ShadeClan, and StormClan. Please PM me if you would like to use them._

Every Cloud...

Redberry's leap lands perfectly on top of me, pinning me down. "If you value your life, tell me who you are, and why you're in my territory!

I'm still stunned from my deputy's seeming betrayal. His claws dig a little further into my back, though. I manage to speak. "Redberry, it's me, Streamstar! I'm leader of our Clan, remember?"

"You think you're Streamstar? The leader of my Clan? As if! You don't even look like him," spits Redberry. "Streamstar's taught me to kill any threat to my Clan, and I'd say you're a pretty big one."

I try again, "Redberry! It's me, Streamstar! Really!" I know he won't believe me, though, so I'll have to fight. Using all my strength, I throw Redberry off me.

We battle, although I'm trying not to harm my deputy. He has no such qualms. I pin him down, trying to make him see reason. He pushes me off with unsheathed back paws, thrusting me into a bush with familiar red berries.

My mouth is open in a yowl of pain. I know it's an accident that a few of the berries enter my mouth. And it's only my fault that I swallow.

It doesn't change the fact that these are deathberries, and I'm on my way to StarClan.

* * *

"Streamstar," calls a cat (_A/N: Apologies for the 'cats are stupid' thing. My immature older brother got into the chapter and messed stuff up_). "Wake up! Streamstar!"

My eyes open blearily. "What? What happened?" I realize I'm staring into the eyes of Miststorm. "Miststorm!" I cry in happiness. "But, how are you alive?"

"I'm not," she answers simply. "You're dead."

_Of course._ "But, I'm a leader! I've got nine lives-"

"-Eight, now, actually," Miststorm corrects gently.

"-Right, anyways, I've got eight lives, I'm not dead yet! So why am I here?"

"Because, mousebrain, if you came to now, Redberry would assume you'd just been stunned and kill you again! And again, and again…I love you, but it's not time for us to be reunited. Permanently, at least," mews Miststorm.

"Oh. Right. Birdbrained of me, isn't it?" A thought enters my mind. "So how is Redberry going to know I died now anyways? He'd just assume that I was knocked out for a bit."

"He wouldn't, because by now, he'll have noticed the traces of yew berries in your mouth and know you're dead as dirt." She was always the logical one. "Here, you can see for yourself. Look down."

I do, and see Redberry sniffing…my own corpse. It's a bit disturbing, to say the least. He notices fragments of the deathberries in my mouth, and nods.

"Almost time for you to head back. I'll see you soon, Streamstar!"

"I don't want to leave you yet!" I meow.

Miststorm laughs gently. "You won't be leaving. Part of you'll always be here. See?" Her silver fur waves gently as she gestures to something next to her. I have to look hard to see it. It looks like—me!

"Talk about a split personality," I mutter.

Miststorm smiles. "You need to go back now, Streamstar. I love you, and I always will. Remember that."

Miststorm's voice fades away. I open my eyes and for a moment feel the _absence_ of my heartbeat. My eyesight is a bit blurry, but I can make out Redberry padding away. I stand on shaky legs and follow, stumbling slightly after him. "Redberry, wait!"

He turns around, shocked. "You! You're dead! You ate the deathberries, I saw them myself!"

"Like I said, I'm your leader. We get nine lives, remember?" Redberry has to believe me.

Redberry shakes himself and blinks a few times. "Streamstar? How did you get in here? Why do I have blood on my claws? And why are you all scratched up?"

_Thank StarClan!_ "Y-you honestly don't remember the past few minutes?"

The red-furred cat shakes his head. "No. What happened?"

I take a deep breath. This could take a few moments. "Well, remember that prophecy I told you about? There's been a recent development…."

_**A few minutes later**_

"Miststorm talked to me while I was in StarClan. Incidentally, do you know how _disturbing_ it is to see your own deputy smelling your corpse, and being _happy_ about it? Anyways, I came back to life, and you were still mad at me. And surprised to see me rise from the dead. That's when you remembered that I was in fact me, and stopped trying to kill me," I conclude.

"Streamstar, I'm so sorry! You know I'd never betray you, right?" Redberry asks, worry displayed on his face.

"Of course. You weren't yourself. In fact, you acted a lot like Lightningstar, only with your knowledge," I reply.

"Interesting. So, the prophecy. Obviously, you're the 'water' the first line refers to. But the 'shining cat'?"

"I never told you about the new cat, did I?" I realize.

"No, I was a bit busy trying to kill you for you to explain calmly about a newcomer to the Clan," Redberry replies with a touch of wry humor.

"Well, Spottedfur woke up today. All her kits were missing, and another, different one was there in their place," I explain. "The kit's fur _was_ pretty shiny, now that I think of it. Seems a bit simple for a prophecy, but who knows? Plus, right after I met her, you acted as though you had never met me!"

"Good point. But the rest…" Redberry trails off, clearly deep in thought.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

_**Five moons later**_

"Betcha can't catch me!" calls another of the kits. _Is it Cloudkit? Or is this Snowkit? Argh, I forget._ Five moons in LakeClan, and I still don't know everyone's name.

"You're on!" I yell back, scrabbling around the dirt clearing in the Clan's camp.

Right before I'm about to catch him, he skids to a halt. "Hey, I know what we should d-OOF!" That last part would be from me crashing into him and knocking him to the ground.

"Ow! What, uh," I hesitate, "Snowkit?"

He rolls his eyes. "I'm Cloudkit, mousebrain. Snowkit's a _she-cat_. Gosh."

"Oh yeah. Sorry," I apologize. "So, what should we do?"

Cloudkit's eyes glisten with excitement. "Climb up the reed wall! We could see the whole camp from there! It'd be awesome!"

I hesitate. Ever since pushing Mist over the edge of the gorge, I'd been scared of heights. "I…I dunno. We might get hurt."

He groans. "What, you too _scared_? Who's ever heard of a cat that's afraid of heights?"

"Okay! Okay, I'll do it!."

Just moments after saying that, I'm staring up at the tangle of reeds that surrounds the camp. This spot doesn't look much different from the rest of it. "You sure this is safe?"

"The warriors do it all the time! Heck, even the _apprentices_ climb up it! We're nearly apprentices! It's okay!" Cloudkit argues. To prove it, he leaps up onto a small ledge. "See? I'm just fine."

"W-well, OK…" I carefully step onto a different ledge. "Hey, this is kinda fun!"

Cloudkit rolls his eyes again. "See? Besides, we're cats. We always land on our paws." He continues to bound up, occasionally using his claws to push himself to the next ledge.

My route is much more cautious, following a longer path with larger ledges and smaller jumps. Eventually I wind up sharing one of the ridges with him. "It's like Quigley and Violet, in that fanfic _The Meaningful Moment_," I murmur.

"What?" asks Cloudkit.

I'm not sure myself. "Oh, nothing. Just nonsense." I shake the thought from my mind. "Let's keep climbing." I'm keeping pace with him now, and we're at the top before long. "Wow. It's so beautiful up here. Like we're demigods at Mount Olympus. Or the Empire State Building."

"Huh? Seriously, you are not making any sense today!"

"I'm not sure where this stuff is coming from either, actually," I tell him.

"Oh. It's cool up here anyways. Look, I can blot out the whole camp with my paw!" he says, holding up a white paw to demonstrate. "Woah!"

And then he's falling, tumbling off the reeds. "AAAH!"

_A/N: Yup, end of Chapter 9. And I even managed to sneak in my references! I was going to make it longer, but there weren't any good cliffhangers within the next, oh, several pages. I'll type up Chapter 10 as well, though. I've got the first part already._


	10. Apprentices!

**A/N: It's Chapter 10, like I promised! OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH ! ! ! ! ! ! ! It's the first double-digit chapter! *squees* Doing a new form of disclaimer and claimer. Tell me what you think! It'll be at the end of the chapter, as Mothstar, my awesome beta-er said it was kinda long.**

Apprentices!

I leap from ledge to ledge, trying to beat him to the bottom. For a moment, I slip myself, and fall. I manage to snag a claw into a stem, and discover that I can travel faster if I alternately fall and slow myself when I think I'm going too fast. By some miracle of StarClan, I manage to reach the bottom quicker than Cloudkit. Maybe it's all that fluffy fur slowing him down.

I rush over to where he's about to hit the ground and break his fall. "OW!" we both cry simultaneously.

"Argh…okay, I admit it, this was a really bad idea," Cloudkit mumbles.

"C'mon." I help him to his paws. "Let's head to the medicine cat's den."

We limp to Rushleg's den. "Let me guess, both of you tried to climb up the reed wall," she sighs.

"We didn't _try_ to climb it. We _did_ climb it, all the way to the top!" Cloudkit boasts.

"Yeah, and that's when _you_ fell off," I point out.

Rushleg looks startled. "You fell off? Why aren't you dead?"

"I am dead. This is my ghost. WOOOO!"

I groan and roll my eyes. "He's not dead because I _saved his life_ by cushioning his fall." I turn to Cloudkit. "And you haven't even said thanks! You owe me big time."

"Alright! You two, stop bickering. I need to examine your wounds," Rushleg interrupts. We've both gotten pretty scratched up, and soon strands of cobwebs cover us. "Both of you should be fine, but I'd suggest not doing anything strenuous for the next few sunrises, or until the cuts heal fully. Now, back to the nursery with both of you!"

As soon as we enter the nursery, kits bombard me. The young ones, only a moon and a half old. "Tell us a story!" begs Rainkit.

"Ow…" I moan quietly.

Willowwhisker, their mother, notices it anyways. "What happened, Silverkit?" Her mew is filled with concern.

_Silver__kit__,_ I think bitterly. It's hard to adjust from being a full-grown cat to a tiny kit-even if I am almost an apprentice. "Oh, the ususual. Playing tag, eating freshkill, _saving Cloudkit's life_." I look at the other kittens begging for a story. "I'll tell you about it later. Actually, I'll tell it now, and give the kits a story."

"Hooray!" cheer all three of the kits.

"Once upon a time, there were five kits," I begin.

"What were their names?"

"What did they look like?"

"I'm never going to finish if you keep interrupting me! They were named Rainkit, Snowkit, Hailkit, Cloudkit, and Silverkit. And they looked a lot like their real-life namesakes-"

"What's that mean?"

I sigh. "It means that Rainkit in the story looked like the Rainkit next to me, and so on. One day, all of the kits decided to go outside and play. Cloudkit and Silverkit played tag, and the other three pretended they were a Clan. Then, Cloudkit decided he wanted to climb the reed wall!" My audience 'ooh'-ed and 'ahh'-ed.

"Silverkit thought that was a very bad idea, and wanted to just play tag. But Cloudkit wanted to go anyways. So, they went to the reed wall. Snowkit, Hailkit, and Rainkit were very sneaky, and followed them without being seen. Silverkit and Cloudkit managed to make it to the very top, when all of a sudden-" I stop abruptly and yawn. "You know, it's kind of late. Maybe all of you should go to bed and I can tell you the rest tomorrow."

"No!" exclaims Snowkit.

"Don't stop there!" cries Rainkit.

"It was just getting exciting!" Hailkit tells me, pouting a bit.

I pretend to sigh in exasperation. "Okay. You guys convinced me. I'll keep going. So, Silverkit and Cloudkit made it to the very top when all of a sudden, Cloudkit fell!"

All of the little kits gasp.

"Silverkit knew she had to do something. So, she jumped off the wall herself! But she had a plan. She used her claws-" I unsheath one of my claws, which still has a bit of reed on it, "to slow down. She made it all the way down before Cloudkit did and saved his life! Cloudkit was very grateful and said, 'Oh, thank you so much Silverkit! How can I ever make it up to you?'

"Silverkit was very gracious and told him, 'It's okay, now let's head to the medicine cat's den.' And Hailkit, Rainkit, and Snowkit helped carry Cloudkit there. Then the medicine cat gave them all honey and they lived happily ever after," I finish. "Now, it really is time for bed."

"Aww!" cries Hailkit.

"One more story? Please?" pleads Snowkit.

"Silverkit's right. It really is time for bed," Willowwhisker tells them gently. "You can hear another story tomorrow."

All three kits curl up next to her and drift off to sleep quickly. "So, climbing the reed wall, huh?"

"I tried to convince him it was a bad idea!" I protest. "Amazing view up there, though."

"She really did. It's my fault. Thanks, Silverkit," Cloudkit adds in unexpectedly. "Night." He curls up next—but not _too_ close—to his own mother, Swantail.

I sleep in my own nest. Spottedfur had been so distraught at the loss of her kits that she stopped producing milk. Soon after that, she left the nursery. Fortunately, by that time I was able to sleep by myself.

_**One moon later**_

"Stand _still_, Cloudkit!" Willowwhisker mews, frustrated. "You want to look good for your apprentice ceremony, don't you?"

I smile as I groom myself. I can't quite reach one patch of fur, which sticks up maddeningly. "Willowwhisker? When you finish with Cloudkit, would you help me? I can't get to this one bit of my pelt."

"Of course. Cloudkit! I told you, stand still! We'll never finish at this rate!" Cloudkit finally decides to cooperate, and Willowwhisker is done quickly. She takes a few small steps over to me and, with a few quick strokes of her tongues, smoothes down that one bit. "There you go. Wait, you didn't get the fur around that scar," she notices, and moves towards my forehead.

I back away. "Don't touch it!" I hiss.

"Why not?" she asks.

I close my eyes as memories of that horrible last day with Mist wash over me. "Memories," I choke out at last. "Bad ones."

"But you've been living with us practically since birth!" Cloudkit adds in, confused. "How could you have memories like that?"

I'm saved from answering by the sound of Streamstar calling the Clan meeting. "It's almost time for our ceremony. Let's go!"

Cloudkit and I pad out to the Highrock.

"As you are all aware, we have two kits ready to be apprenticed. Dapplerock, please come up." A calico she-cat with bright green eyes slips up to the Highrock. "Dapplerock, this will be your first apprentice. Silverkit, please come up." On shaky legs, I go through the leader's den up to the top of the Highrock. "Dapplerock, you are now ready to take on an apprentice. You will mentor Silverpaw. Dapplerock, you have shown yourself to be loyal and supportive. I ask you to pass on your sympathy and faithfulness to your apprentice." I touch noses with Dapplerock.

Streamstar speaks again. "Troutpelt, come up here." A tom with brown and tan fur appears next to us on the Highrock. "Troutpelt, you are free to mentor another apprentice now that Pebblefoot is a warrior. Cloudkit, please come up to the Highrock." Cloudkit is trembling with excitement as he comes up to us. "Troutpelt, you have made Pebblefoot into a fine warrior and proven yourself worthy of another apprentice. You will mentor Cloudpaw. Troutpelt, you have shown yourself to be brave and considerate. Pass on your courage and kindness onto your apprentice." Cloudkit—no, Cloud_paw_ and Troutpelt touch noses.

The whole Clan chants our new names. "Silverpaw! Cloudpaw! Silverpaw! Cloudpaw!"

As most of the Clan leaves and the chanting fades out, Cloudpaw and I leave the Highrock. "I tripped on the way up," Cloudpaw confesses. "It was in that hidden path, though, so no one saw me."

I laugh. "Lucky you're in LakeClan. The other Clans have more exposed paths to the top." It's almost sunset, so we head straight to the apprentices' den, talking on our way.

As soon as we enter the den, the other apprentices swarm us. Both Cloudpaw and I cry out in surprise. "Aah! What's this for?"

We're pushed into the center as the other apprentices surround us. A blue-gray furred cat—I think her name is Ripplepaw—explains why we're here. "It's a LakeClan tradition to have the new apprentices tell the older ones a scary story before being allowed to sleep in their new den. If there's more than one, it's better if all the apprentices have the same story. Saves time."

I look at Cloudpaw. "Why don't we tell them about the time you nearly died?"

"Gosh, do you have to keep bringing that up? But okay, we'll tell them that one. You want to start?"

"Sure." With that, Cloudpaw and I tell the story of him falling of the reed wall, and I jump in with my own addition. "But unknown to both kits, the spot where Cloudkit almost died was cursed. A small bit of his spirit, his very life, split off. It wanders around the wall, trying to lure other cats to their death. On nights when warriors patrol the area, you'll hear it meowing, and if you aren't careful, your spirit will join his. The reeds—the spirit's servants—will carry your body deep within the wall, and no one will ever know what happened. Legend tells that when the forest is destroyed, and the reed wall comes down, the bodies of the cats captured will be preserved, joining with their spirits, becoming ghost cats to wander what's left of the forest forever. Quiet, listen. I think I can hear Cloudkit's spirit."

A silence follows my words. I listen, just as the other apprentices are doing for sure (although Cloudpaw sits unattentive next to me. I suppose he thought he'd know if his spirit split), and hear an eerie whisper, echoing slightly, coming from the reed wall. "Come…come to me. Join me. Join me forever. Leave behind your body, my servants will protect it. Come…"

Maybe my story isn't as false as I'd thought…

**DISCLAIMER:  
**_**Silver, would you like to do the honors? *looks at readers* *whispering* This is at the beginning of the chapter. Or at least, that's what they think...*evil laughter*  
**_**Silver: Uh, kinda trying to save Cloudkit here!  
**_**Someone's got a crush!  
**_**Silver: Do not! Besides, I'm a kit!  
**_**Do too. **__***mutters* I bet he's in denial too.  
**_**Silver: I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON CLOUDKIT.  
**_**Yes you do. Now just do the disclaimer already!  
**_**Silver: Fine. Moonmist18 does not own Warriors, if she did, Spottedleaf (whoever that is) would have stayed around for a few more books. She does not own anything else you may recognize, unless it's from earlier in the fanfic. Can I go now?  
**_**Yeah.**_

**CLAIMER:  
**_**Cloudkit, would you like to do the honors?  
**_**Cloudkit: Uh, kinda ABOUT TO DIE HERE! *crosses claws* I hope Silverkit's able to save me.  
**_**Ooh, got a crush too, huh?  
**_**Cloudkit: EW! NO! I'm a kit-wait, ****_too_****? Who else has a crush?  
**_**So you admit it! Hope that the other cat's Silver? And you aren't in denial. I'd thought you would be.  
**_**Cloudkit: I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON SILVERKIT.  
**_**Riiight. Just do the claimer already.  
**_**Cloudkit: Fine. Moonmist18 does own Silverkit-  
**_**It's SILVER.  
**_**Cloudkit: OKAY! Moonmist18 does own **_**Silver**_**, Mist (whoever that is), the Dark Wolves (whatever those are), LakeClan, StormClan, ShadeClan, and GustClan. Can I go now?  
**_**Yeah. *giggles* Y'know, you and Silver answered really alike…**_


	11. Training Rated T

**A/N: Hey guys! It's Chapter 11! This'll probably be mostly in Cloudpaw's POV. Oh, and my AMAZING beta-er, Mothstar gave me the idea for both Cloudpaw AND Ripplepaw's warrior names. HUGE thanks go to her. Man, this is the longest chapter yet! A whole 7 pages! Oh, this chapter re-tells Mist's story, only in a very creepy way. It's down at the bottom, so if you like, you can just read the whole bit up until our two characters (nope, not giving away the warrior names!) reach the warriors den. I like the disclaimer/claimer method I used in Chapter 10, so that's what I'll do! Enjoy!**

Training (Rated T)

We wake up to our first day of training. It's a little before dawn, so we don't have to head out quite yet. The other apprentices are still asleep, although they won't be for long. I'm reminded of something that's confused me about Silverki-no, Silver_paw_. "Hey, Silverpaw?" I ask.

She turns slightly to look at me. "Yes?"

"How come you're _Silver_paw? Why not Ebonypaw or something? Because your fur is black, not silver," I note.

Her gaze hardens. "Because Silver is my name. That's why."

"Okay! I was just wondering!"

"Well, you know what they say," Silverpaw mews, a teasing tone entering her voice.

"Actually, I don't. What do they say?"

"Curiosity killed the cat!" she responds, smiling.

"Where do you get this stuff? Remember when you referred to something called a 'fanfic', and, let me see, what was it, oh, yes, the 'Empire State building'?" I wonder.

Silverpaw shrugs. "I don't really know. It just pops into my brain. We're going to be late for training if we don't hurry."

"Let's go, then! By the way, how did you get that whisper last night?"

"I didn't," replies Silverpaw. "That really was a piece of your spirit." She starts to laugh suddenly. "The look on your face! No, I thought something like that would happen; I've spied on the apprentices before. I got Rainkit and Hailkit to whisper that."

I laugh as well. "All the other apprentices sure fell for it! Should we tell them?"

Silverpaw grins mischievously. "Nah. Let them worry about it when they're on guard. It'll make them more attentive, that's for sure!"

I glance up at the sky. "We should go see our mentors." Both of us pad out of the den. Dapplerock and Troutpelt are already waiting for us.

"What are we going to be doing today?" asks Silverpaw.

Dapplerock answers her question. "Well, we're going to patrol the border. I'm not sure what Troutpelt and Cloudpaw are going to do." She gives Troutpelt a questioning glance.

"I think I'll take Cloudpaw out to collect moss for the warriors den," he mews. "I found a tree that was covered with the stuff about two sunrises ago. But first, are either of you hungry?"

"Starving," I reply, and Silverpaw nods in agreement. We hadn't been able to eat after Silverpaw had finished telling the story. The apprentices had been too scared that 'my spirit' would have taken ours.

Moonpaw had been especially afraid. "You can't go out! The spirit is part of _yours_! It might want to reclaim the rest!" At the time, I had agreed. Now, though…

All four of us pad over to the freshkill pile. Silverpaw picks out a large salmon. "Want to share?" she asks. "I could never eat this whole thing by myself."

"Okay." Within moments, the salmon is gone. Stomach full, I'm ready to start the day.

"Now that you've eaten, let's head out to the woods." Troutpelt begins to walk to the exit of the camp, beckoning to me with a twitch of his tail. I follow him obediently.

Troutpelt leads me to a tree not too far away from the camp. "Okay. Collecting moss. You have to make sure not to get too close to the bark, or that'll be mixed in. Trust me, you do _not_want to spend a night picking bark slivers out of a pile of moss. It's been rather dry lately, so you won't have to worry about moisture. Go ahead and give it a try. Oh, and unsheathe your claws as far as possible, so you can get the most amount of moss in one strike," he instructs. "Here, I'll demonstrate." Troutpelt unsheathes his claws and quickly swipes at the tree. A neat swath of moss falls at his paws.

Trying to keep everything in mind, I unsheathe my claws almost until it hurts. I swipe at the mossy surface of the fallen tree, and a somewhat small, very ragged piece of moss comes off.

"It's harder than it looks, huh?" Troutpelt mews, smiling. "Keep trying, you'll get better with practice."

It takes until it's nearly sunhigh, but my moss piles soon look almost as neat as my mentor's. "Now, let me show you how to hold it. You ball it up like this-" he rolls up a sheet of moss, compressing it as he does so "-and tuck it under your chin. With those smaller pieces, you can probably do two to a ball. You can also hold one in your mouth." Troutpelt demonstrates. "Hewe, twy id," he tries to tell me, and then realizes his mistake. He spits out the moss ball in his mouth, and repeats himself. "Here, try it."

It's tricky keeping the moss under my chin and pick up some in my mouth, but we're ready to head back to camp around sunhigh.

_**Back at camp (about 10 minutes after sunhigh)**_

"So, Cloudpaw, how was your day? I'm exhausted, trekking around the border took forever," Silverpaw complains.

"Okay. Learned how to collect moss. Not really sure how that helps me in anything _but_ that," I mention.

Troutpelt overhears me. "Actually, you learned claw control, so you can kill prey more efficiently, and how to carry more prey at once."

"Huh. I didn't know that," Silverpaw mews. She starts to speak, and a teasing tone has entered her mew. "Mice of the forest, fear Cloudpaw, moss-gatherer!"

"Hey!" I cry in mock indignation.

"Anyways, I'm hungry again. Want to share something with me?" Silverpaw asks.

"Collecting moss, while useful for learning how to _hunt_ prey, doesn't really make you _want_ any," I reply. I do feel a bit peckish, but that can wait. "Looks like a hunting patrol came in, you'll have plenty to choose from."

Silverpaw walks over to the freshkill pile. I'm close enough that I can hear her muttering, "A few salmon, a trout, two mice, a finch…" she halts for a moment. "M-magpie?" Silverpaw stands shakily for a moment, then collapses.

"Silverpaw!" I rush over to her. She's muttering about something—mist? Wolves? I can just make out a few words, but they make no sense. A gorge, a forest, something that sounds like 'Vulpes'.

One sentence makes sense: "Enjoy the Dark Forest!" I shudder. The Dark Forest is a place for murders, traitors, the worst of the worst. Who did Silverpaw know that would have gone there? And why would she glory—for triumph, twisted triumph is in her meow—over it?. The other option—that Silverpaw belongs there herself—I block from my mind.

But now Silverpaw is up, running around, eyes closed, but looking for something she can't seem to find. She throws back her head and lets out a bloodcurdling howl—a sound I never knew could come from a cat and never wished to know it could.

I approach her carefully, but she snarls and swipes at me, claws unsheathed. I barely manage to duck the blow. _What's happening? Silverpaw's fighting like she's a warrior, but we've only 'paws for a day!_ Silverpaw takes off again, eyes still slammed shut.

For a moment, she looks like she's about to slam into the reeds, but swerves and runs frantically, continuing to run without end. She sprints next to me, and skids to a halt. Her eyes snap open, and for a moment I'm relieved. _Silverpaw, my Silverpaw is back._

But then I look into her eyes. The irises are blood red, and her pupils are a dark, dark black. A black that draws you in, so you can be captured by evil. A demonic grin is stretched across her face, distorting her beautiful features. I scrabble backwards frantically. She stalks me, slowly, carefully, deliberately. It—this, this _thing_ is no longer Silverpaw—knows it will catch me. It will hurt me. It won't let me escape. "No, Silverpaw…"

It's barely more than a whisper. But I see her eyes return to their normal shade of blue. The evil is gone. Silverpaw is back. I nearly collapse from relief. But then I see her eyes have remained haunted.

I can just catch her whisper. "No, they were gone, they left. It shouldn't have happened!"

"Wh-what happened?" I stutter.

"I-it's nothing. My 'beautiful features'? 'Your' Silverpaw, huh?"

She's trying to be lighthearted, but it's not working. I never said that out loud, I didn't even realize I'd thought it. "Silverpaw, I never said that stuff. I only thought it—and even then I didn't realize I had."

She looks even more spooked, and I can hear her terror when she whispers again. "No. Not them. Even in the worst, it was never _them_." Suddenly realized I'd heard that, she tries to cover up. "I guess border patrol was more taxing than I'd thought. I-I'm going to take a nap."

**_Six moons later_**

I wake up and stretch. It seems much darker in the den than usual, and I look outside. It's nearly sunset! Alarmed, I'm about to rush out so I might be able to get _some_ training in, but remember what happened yesterday. Streamstar had called us into his den, and told us our apprenticeship would end tomorrow—well, today, actually! Our mentors had spent extra time training us and had put us through our final assessments earlier that day. We were allowed to sleep in. I reach out a paw and tap Silverpaw gently. "Silverpaw, time to wake up. You want to look good for our warrior ceremony, right?"

Silverpaw sits up and yawns. She stops abruptly. "That's right! We'll be warriors later today!" She begins grooming her pelt with quick, graceful strokes. I do the same.

I look up after a few minutes to find Silverpaw practically chasing her tail. "Argh! It's been _six moons_ and I _still_ can't reach this one spot!"

I have to muffle a laugh. "Here, let me help." I notice that the fur around her scar is still ruffled—although you can no longer see the scar itself. The fur above it grew longer to cover it. "It's almost time for the ceremony. Let's head out."

Silverpaw and I leave the apprentice's den for the last time. Other cats are milling around—I recognize Moonflow and Ripplecreek. They had actually become full warriors just a few sunrises after we became apprentices. With amusement, I notice that they stay far away from the reed wall. I nudge Silverpaw with my tail. "Hey, look at Moonflow and Ripplecreek!"

Her gaze travels to them. "What about them? They're not doing anything—or going anywhere—special."

"It's not where they _are_ going. It's where they _aren't_," I grin.

Silverpaw smiles as well when she realizes it. "Gosh, we scared them good! I'll have to tell Rainpaw and Hailpaw!"

"Definitely," I agree.

Our chatter is interrupted by Streamstar's call. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highstone for a Clan meeting!"

A hush descends as the thirty-some cats crowd around the Highstone. Streamstar begins to mew once again. "Today we are introducing two new warriors to the Clan. Silverpaw, Cloudpaw, would you please join me?"

Both Silverpaw and I pad up the path. Unfortunately, I fail to see that same little pebble I had tripped on before, and fall again. Silverpaw purrs in amusement, then lends a paw and helps me get back up. It seems like hours, but it's really only a few seconds until we're standing next to Streamstar. The leader of our Clan turns to me. "I, Streamstar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Cloudpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect the clan, even at the Cost of your life?"

I swallow nervously. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Cloudpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Cloudflash. StarClan honors your loyalty and steadfastness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of LakeClan.

Streamstar rests his head on my shoulder, and I lick his shoulder respectfully. The blue-furred cat then turns to Silverpaw. "I, Streamstar, call upon my warrior apprentices to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Silverpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect the Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

I think I see something flicker in Silverpaw's eyes—sorrow? Regret? Pain?—but her voice rings out clear and steady. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Silverpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Silvermist."

For a moment, I see a flicker of red in Silvermist's eyes. _No! She can't be having one of those, those...whatever they are, she can't be having one of them! Not in the middle of her warrior ceremony!_ I reach my tail over to her and gently tap her. She starts slightly, and her eyes clear. _Thank StarClan._

Streamstar continues with the ceremony, unfazed by the disturbance. "StarClan honors your creativity and sense of humor, and we welcome you as a full warrior of LakeClan." He lowers his head to rest on Silvermist's shoulder, and she licks his shoulder respectfully.

Either unknowing, or unwilling to acknowledge Silvermist's momentary...whatever it is, the Clan chants our new names. "Cloudflash! Silvermist! Cloudflash! Silvermist!"

We make our way down to the clearing. Guess what? I trip on that pebble _again_. Silvermist laughs. "Let's hope you never become leader! You'd be black and blue from all the falling down!" She begins to sing something, "London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London bridge is falling down, my dear Cloudflash!"

"Again with this stuff!" I sigh, pretending to complain.

"Again, I have no idea where this comes from. I'm actually rather curious about it," Silvermist tells me.

A genius idea strikes me. "Well, you know what they say!"

"What?" Silvermist asks, nearly tripping herself. We've just exited Streamstar's den.

"Curiousity killed the cat!" I crow.

Silvermist, however, is ready for it. "Satisfaction brought her back!"

I groan and flop onto my stomach. "I just can't win, can I?"

"Nope," Silvermist replies, a bit too smug for my taste. "Get used to it, Cloudflash. Nice name, by the way."

"Thanks," I'm a bit taken aback by the unexpected compliment. "Yours is pretty nice too."

"Not really." Silvermist's response surprises me.

"Why not?"

"It's nothing. We're almost at the warriors den, you should start thinking of a scary story." Silvermist deflects the question.

"Let me guess. You've spied on them, too?"

"Yep! I've already got one." The words, although spoken cheerfully, sadden her, seem to weigh her down. "You could tell them about that...flashback, if you like," she offers hesitantly.

"Is that what it was? How could you have memories like that, though? Seriously, you've been with us since birth!"

"I'll tell you about that later." Silvermist's mew has turned cold abruptly.

We enter the warriors den a few moments later. "You guys know the drill," Moonflow tells us. "Although, every warrior tells a different story."

"Okay. I'll start." I pause for a moment. "It has to be a true story, right?"

"Yeah. You can embellish it a bit, though, if need be," Ripplecreek answers.

"Got it." With that, I launch into the story of Silvermist's flashback, as she calls it. I don't bother exaggerating anything, the story is scary enough.

All the cats look shaken when I'm done. "I-is that really a true story?" asks timid Flowingstep.

"Yeah," I reply.

Everyone turns to look at Silvermist. "H-how come that h-happened?" Flowingstep wonders.

"I'll tell you about it. Now, this story does sound pretty unbelievable, but I swear by StarClan it's the truth. Cloudflash, you've noticed how I've had memories of other places, other things, even though I've seemed to live here almost since birth. Well, before, I was a full-grown cat, a loner in a forest called the Vulpes Saltus. I lived in a den with space enough for me and one other cat, if I ever took a mate. I never did. My name, Silvermist? Mist was a cat I knew in the Vulpes Saltus. She was the only cat I was friends with, and we met at that den—I had just killed a squirrel, and was carrying it to the den. When I got there, Mist was sniffing around. She was clearly weak and hungry. I took pity on her and gave her the squirrel. She ate it gratefully, saying she was starving, and the last thing she'd had to eat was a woodmouse a week ago. Well, as she was near death, I didn't need to be afraid of her, and we became friends in the moon it took for her to get better. We slept together in the den, hunted together, everything.

"About a year after we met, we split up to go hunting. I lost the trail I had, and went back to the den to wait for Mist. While I was there, I must have fallen asleep, and had the strangest dream. A blue-gray cat, my mother, just with a different pelt color, was leaning over me, and gave me a prophecy:

'The precious one will be betrayed,  
And until she learns her loved one stayed,  
So to forgive her, she will not trust,  
Until rivers run red, and kill she must'.

My mother started another sentence: 'And Silver, don't forget-'. I woke up before she was able to finish.

"I was woken by Mist. By her scream of terror. I ran as fast as I could towards her, and saw Mist running from this pack of wolves, only fiercer than any I've seen before. They had something unearthly about them, something not quite right. They ran through brambles without getting a scratch, leaped over tall logs without any effort. I realized what was wrong with them. All of them were identical. Down to the last hair on their pelt, the way they moved, the barks they made-identical. When one leaped, all leaped. When one barked, all barked. When one killed" Silvermist shivers, "all killed. I knew that they would never tire, never hunger, never thirst. Mist would run forever. If she could.

"I caught up to her, but in her fear, she saw me as just another enemy. She bit me, right on my forehead, and left a scar that will remind me of her to this day." She lifts the fur on her forehead with a paw, revealing that mist-colored scar in the shape of a perfect star. With a shiver myself, I remember the day we were apprenticed. "It haunts me every time I go to drink.

"But I kept trying to help her, more cautiously. She realized it was me at last. We ran together against the wolf pack. But we were getting tired. I branched off to distract them, but they weren't after me. They were after Mist. I could tell Mist was getting more and more tired, more and more hungry, thirstier and thirstier. But she just...kept...running.

"These wolves cast some sort of enchantment, I realized. Their prey would run forever, getting thirstier, hungrier, more tired, if they didn't catch them. And they wouldn't catch them until they were sure that their prey would become a living corpse, running, running, soon anyways. Horrified, I did the only thing I could to help Mist."

Silvermist pauses for a long moment. "I shoved her into the gorge. I knew that the death caused by the fall would be far quicker, far more merciful, then the death those wolves would give her. But she didn't know that.

"As she fell, she hissed with hatred, 'Enjoy the Dark Forest!' I don't know what that means, maybe I never will. But the look in her eyes, it haunts me to this day. The pack jumped in after her. They should have drowned. But they didn't. They swam, effortlessly, identically, to where my friend's corpse floated. I knew they would only take flesh that was fresh. I knew that they would only take flesh they had killed themselves. They swam on.

"Every night, I dream of Mist. It had stopped when I came here, came to this Clan, but then they came back. Cloudflash told you about that. I dream I _am_ her, that I am running from the mutts. I wake far from the place I went to sleep. It was vever as far as this, though, always in the Vulpes Saltus. I dream of her face, that look she gave me as I pushed her to her death. I dream the same thing over and over again. But the thing that disturbs me most is how I knew what the pack would do. I understand them. I am like them, I killed like them, I dream of them, dream of joining them, for death is better than running and running and running...But Mist didn't understand them. She didn't know them. She wasn't like them.

"One last thing. The mutts' fur? Black. Black as mine, black as my heart." Silvermist curls up. "Don't let me leave the den. Hurt me if you have to, but don't let me leave this place. I'll never come back again." She drifts off to sleep, her peaceful breathing defying the dreams I know she is having.

"Oh, Silvermist…" I murmur. "I never knew…"

_***sneaks up and jumps on top of Cloudflash* RAWR!  
**_**Aah! Hey! Why'd you do that?  
**_**Well, last time Silver did the disclaimer, and you did the claimer, so I thought I'd switch it up.  
**_**Do you have to pick on me every time? Let me guess, Silver's going to do the claimer.  
**_**Actually, no. Ripplecreek is.  
**_**Why not have Moonpath do the disclaimer, then? And spare me and Silver?  
**_**Because I don't like Moonpath, and I choose to spare Silver because I like her better.  
**_**Hey!  
**_**You know you were invented only as a cat that has a crush on Silver, and **__**you became a main, well, somewhat main character accidentally.  
**_**For once, I'll agree with the I-have-a-crush-on-Silver statement.  
****_And it's only because you practically admitted it earlier in the chapter. But, hey, now you guys are warriors.  
_****So? You know what, I'm not even going to let you answer that.**** I think I'll just do the disclaimer and get this over with. Moonmist18 does not own Warriors, if she did, Crowfeather would be dead and happy in StarClan with Feathertail. She doesn't own anything else you may recognize, unless it's from earlier in the story. That seems obvious, doesn't it?  
**_***poofs him away*  
**_***as he's fading out* Hey!**

_***sneaks up behind Ripplecreek* Hi!  
**_***jumps* Aah! What do you want?  
**_***hands her paper with claimer on it* Read this. Wait, hang on. *grants her the ability to read*  
**_***scans it* Okay. *clears throat* Moonmist 18 does own Silver, Mist, the Dark Wolves, LakeClan, GustClan, StormClan, and ShadeClan.  
**_**Wow. You're cooperative. Wish Silver and Cloudflash were like that. You have my permission to leave.  
**_***leaves*  
**_***is able to mind-talk to Cloudflash* See, Ripplecreek cooperated and was out of here within seven lines. You took fourteen. Double the lines. Actually, you took even more than that, if you count each actual line as a line, instead of each of us talking.**_


	12. BONUS CHAPTER

_A/N: What's this? A bonus chapter? Yeah, I couldn't think of anything to write for the real Chapter 12, so I'm giving you this instead! And help one my plot twists, mwahaha...Oh, and the review-and-get-mentioned bonus is now OVER. Sorry, but if you haven't reviewed by now... However, reviewers will get plushies! They seem to be taking a while to arrive, sooooo...none for this chapter. But there is one for Chapter 12! Anyways, enjoy! Oh, and I'd recommend re-reading Chapter 5 before this, as I made a slight edit to it just so the full impact can wash over you xP._

* * *

I'm awakened by a voice. "Well, well. What do we have here? A kittypet, exploring the big bad forest? Whatever shall we do?" I peer up at the cat above me, my eyes still blurry from sleep. _Stupid mouse. Made me chase it around trees all night for nothing. _"No collar. A loner then." The cat's voice sharpens. "Kill him."

I'm wide awake now. Glancing around, I see that there's a group of four surrounding me, a white she-cat (the one who was speaking before, I note), a calico tom, and two tortoiseshell she-cats. "No! Don't! I've got a mate...and she's got kits! I was just trying to find some prey..."

"Lead me to her."

"No."

"We'll find her eventually. And I might not be in such a good mood then..." The menace and threat are clear in her voice.

"W-what will you do with her?"

"Well," the white cat casually examines a claw, "if I'm feeling nice, I'll let both of you join us. If I'm not, well," she proceeds to the other paw, "the poor kits will be orphans. How old are they?"

I hesitate. If I say they're too young, this cold-blooded cat will probably kill them. But she'll find them anyways. I decide to tell the truth. "Four moons."

"Hm. Well, what are you waiting for? Start walking!"

I hate myself for doing it, but I lead the group towards my makeshift den. "H-here we are."

"Poseidon?" My mate's voice comes from inside the den. I can hear her sniffing the air. "Are there other cats with you?"

The white cat answers for me. "He does. And you're coming with us."

"I've got kits! They can't survive on their own, they don't know how to hunt or anything!"

"That's why we're bringing them with us."

My heart sinks as the white cat beckons me forward with a flick of her tail. I consider making a run for it-but I couldn't leave the kits and my mate alone to deal with these ferocious cats. I lead them into the den. Our two kits sit nestled up besides my mate. Right before the white she-cat can take one, they vanish in a flash of silver light.

"What did you do with them?" the white cat snarls.

"I-I don't know! Where'd they go?" She's sniffing around the entire den furiously.

"Never mind the kits. We're leaving."

They surround us and lead us to their camp.

* * *

_POV CHANGE_

I sniff the air curiously. "Hey, sis, where are we?"

"I dunno. Where's Mom? And Dad?" replies my sister.

Just then I hear a voice whisper in my head. _Welcome to the Vulpes Saltus._

* * *

"Will we be okay?" my mate whispers into my ear.

"If we keep together, we'll always be fine, Copper," I murmur back.


	13. Has a Silver Lining

_A/N: This chapter's plushie: Cloudflash! That's right, review and get your very own Cloudflash plushie! Also, a question for reviewers: Favorite Warrior character? By the way, I haven't read past the first book of Omen of the Stars (or is it the second?), so avoid any spoilers (however there would be with a character) please._

_Disclaimer and claimer are at the bottom of the page. Chapter is in Cloudflash's POV. More thanks to Mothy, my beta-er and giver of Cloudflash and Ripplecreek's warrior names!_

_A/N 2: Has it really been nearly three months? Heh, sorry 'bout that...school and all. Plus the fact that this whole story was kinda based off of the Mist-story thingermabob last chapter, meaning that all my plans are now fuzzy and undefined...not that they weren't fuzzy and undefined earlier, but they were slightly less fuzzy and undefined. I mean, I know where it's ending up, but I have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER of how to get there, other than a few events I thought up randomly while doing my homework...I'm rambling again, aren't I?  
Anyways. On to the story!_

_Oh, and it's ABSURDLY SHORT. I'm sorry. I'd delayed this long enough. This story is probably going to end within, mm, two or three chapters, too. Don't hold me to it. But it's highly likely. Lemme think... Yeah, two or three, leaning towards three. Excuse any non-grammatical sentences (at least, ones that are being spoken). It hopefully doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother ME when characters speak in non-grammatical sentences, like fragments, you know? But apparently it annoys my English teacher, despite the fact that the character's education was up to about second grade. Sheesh. Don't mind me, I'm just rambling. Oh, and the title? Go look at Chapter 9's title. Then it'll make more sense._

* * *

...Has a Silver Lining

I'm awakened by a growl. Silvermist is awake, her eyes glowing red. I know the story now, and it haunts me even more. She's acting like one of the wolves from her tale. I'm about to speak to her (it's snapped her out of the flashbacks before) when I hear a voice inside my head. _We came for Mist. We'll come for you, and everyone you love..._

I shiver. No wonder Silvermist has nightmares, if this is what the creatures that chased her are like. "Silvermist," I whisper. "You have to wake up." But my voice isn't working this time. I tap her with my tail. "Silvermist!"

This jerks her out of her nightmare. "Thanks, Cloudflash," she murmurs.

Somehow, this reminds me of my earlier question. "How did you get from the Vulpes Saltus to the forest anyways?

"I drank from this pool of water after Mist's death. It tasted really weird, I guess it must have transported me here somehow. And turned me into a kit," she adds.

"What about your parents? Do you think they're looking for you?"

Her eyes cloud over. "I'm an orphan."

Of _course_ she's an orphan. Every question I ask her seems to stir up some sort of painful memory. "Oh." Cue an awkward silence. Fortunately, most of the other cats have woken up during our conversation, and Redberry assigns us to a hunting patrol.

* * *

I'm carefully stalking a squirrel when Frogclaw* suddenly slams into me. The squirrel skitters off. "What was that for?" I yell-or, at least, the best you can yell in a whisper. If any more prey is nearby, I don't want to scare it.

He's panting hard. "Frosttail...she's giving birth...can't find Rushleg." Exhausted, he slumps on the ground. ** He looks back up at me. "I've been searching, but I can't catch any of her scent. She must be gathering herbs or something."

I nod. "I'll find Silvermist, you head back to camp in case she comes back. Don't worry, we'll find her in no time." Frogclaw races back off.

Fortunately, Silvermist appears from the forest within moments. "What was all that racket about?"

I catch her up on the situation. Suddenly, an idea occurs to me. "Silvermist, don't those wolves you were talking about prey on the weak and helpless? So couldn't you track her down as one of them? I mean, Rushleg doesn't fight much, she _is_ the medicine cat."

She's busy sniffing around, and replies: "First of all, I can't exactly control my flashbacks, though that'd be nice. And secondly, they don't hunt the helpless, Cloudflash. They hunt those I love." Her gaze turns anguished. "So in other words, they'd only come after you." Her ears perk up suddenly. "I can smell Rushleg's scent! Follow me!"

I do, and I'm so caught up in the moment that only later does the full significance of what she's said come upon me.

It's not too long before we tumble into a clearing and almost crash into Rushleg. After filling her in on the situation, we hurry back to the camp.

After what feels like hours, Rushleg emerges from the nursery, a grim look on her face.

My heart sinks. "Is Frosttail-"

"Frosttail's fine," Rushleg cuts me off.

"They why-" Silvermist realizes what it must have been. "The kits, did...something happen?"

Rushleg nods. "The she-cat...didn't make it. She looked just like her mother."

"Were there...were there any others?"

"Two toms. A brown one, with white paws, and a white one with flecks of brown. Mudkit and Minnowkit."

"Does Frosttail need any help with anything?" I ask. "Bedding, water?"

"No, she's fine. Or as fine as she can be, under the circumstances."

***Mothy: I finally took you up on your offer of using-oops, I mean _basing_ a cat off of one of yours! :D**

****Any HP fans reading this (Pottergirl1 included :D): You have no idea how tempted I was to phrase that as "'Frosttail...giving birth in the nursery...thought you ought to know.' And with that, he faints." I seriously considered it, then decided that Frogclaw's character (which is a bit of the one that Mothy has in her AMAZING story Moth in the Meadow) wasn't like that at all. So I didn't put it in.**

**DISCLAIMER_  
Hi! *more whispering to the audience* I wrote this before writing most of the chapter, which will explain any non-canonness that follows.  
_****Flowingstep: Aah! W-who are y-you?_  
_****_Just the author of the story. I need you to do the disclaimer for me. Here you go. *hands her paper* *grants her ability to read*  
_****Flowingstep: I d-don't even know who th-this cat is! And what's *checks paper* the W-warriors series?  
****_Just read it. You can leave after that.  
_****Flowingstep: O-okay. *clears throat* Moonmist18 does not own the Warriors series. If she did, Silverstream would be alive. She does not own anything else you may recognize, unless it's from earlier in the story.  
****_Excellent! You can go now!  
_****Flowingstep: ...  
****_What?  
_****Flowingstep: H-how _do_ I leave?  
****_Oh, right! *poofs up tunnel back to LakeClan* . Go through there, and you'll be in LakeClan's camp.  
_****Flowingstep: *leaves***

**CLAIMER  
_Hello!_  
Moonpath: Who the heck are _you_?  
_Hey, no need to be rude here! I'm the author of the story, and I need you to do the claimer. Just read this paper out loud and you can go back to LakeClan. Here you go. *hands him paper* *grants him ability to read*_  
Moonpath: How about...no.  
_*mind-talks to Cloudflash* See, this is why I didn't want Moonpath doing the claimer! *talking to Moonpath* JUST DO IT ALREADY!_  
Moonpath: No.  
_DO IT!_  
Moonpath: Still no.  
_*growls* Do it or I'll set the Black Pack on you._  
Moonpath: N-what? What's the Black Pack?  
_Those wolves Silver was talking about._  
Moonpath: So she wasn't making that up?  
_NO SHE WASN'T MAKING THAT UP! What, did you think she'd just randomly have nightmares about something she JUST MADE UP?_  
Moonpath: Yeah, kinda.  
_*facepalm* Now will you do the claimer already?_  
Moonpath: ... Let me think about it...still thinking...hang on...  
_HURRY UP!_  
Moonpath: Aw, you interrupted my train of thought! I have to start over!  
_*transports in a Black Pack wolf in cage into room* *sweetly* Still thinking about that?_  
Moonpath: *pales* *all in one breath* Moonmist18-does-own-Silver-Mist-Cloudflash-Ripplecreek-Moonpath-as-much-as-she-may-dislike-him *pauses* HEY!  
_*opens door to cage an inch*_  
****Moonpath: *gulps* Flowingstep-Streamstar-and-all-the-other-characters-she's-too-lazy-to-list-LakeClan-GustClan-StormClan-ShadeClan-and-the-Black-Pack-please-PM-her-if-you-would-like-to-use-them-can-I-go-now?  
_No._  
Moonpath: Why not?  
_*releases wolf*_  
Moonpath: *screams*  
_*teleports him to LakeClan* *mind-talks to Cloudflash* _Now_ do you see why I didn't want Moonpath doing the claimer? Twenty-eight lines...that's a record. Although, on the other hand, it was kinda fun torturing him.  
_Cloudflash: o.O_  
Oh, did I say-er, think that out loud? Never mind!_**


	14. The Missing Aren't Missing

_Hey guys! I'm back! (*gasps* An update in under two months? Who are you and what have you done with Moonmist? Actually, keep her, as she is so awful at updating) Let's see if we can make this chapter a bit longer then the last one, shall we? Ugh, that chapter was shamefully short, I'm so sorry. I think I've got just a touch of writer's block, too D:._

_Anyways. On to the chapter! This is set about six moons later than the last one. I tend to time-skip a lot. As for POV, I'll be switching between Silvermist, Cloudflash, and Streamstar's, starting with Silvermist. Enjoy!_

_Oh, and this chapter's plushie? Miststorm! A review buys you not just a Miststorm plushie, but the opportunity to answer this special question: Any pets? How about annoying siblings? And most importantly, CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE? Just kidding, of course. Butreally, pets? Number? Kind? Siblings? Older? Younger? Gender?  
That was more like ten special questions, rather than one. Oh well, too bad, what a shame xP._

_This chapter was dragging on forever. I had a whole bunch of events planned, and it was a bit too much, so finally I was just like, you know what? To heck with it. I'm ending it off where I want to. Which means that this story is probably going to be a chapter longer than planned. Or else I'll incorporate everything into next chapter. I don't even know._

* * *

The Missing Aren't Missing...

I stand at the base of the Highrock, along with Cloudflash. Near the other side of the clearing, Minnowkit and Mudkit are squirming as their mother gives them a last-minute cleaning. They need to look their best, today is their apprentice ceremony. And I'm going to be one of the mentors!

Streamstar appears on the Highrock. "We have two kits that are ready for their apprenticeship. Silvermist, Cloudflash, would you join me on the Highrock?"

We split away from the crowd and pad up the path. Cloudflash manages to _not_ fall flat on his jaw this time. Once we arrive at the top, Streamstar calls for the two soon-to-be-paws. Mudkit arrives confidently, while Minnowkit looks much more nervous.

"Silvermist," Streamstar starts, "Minnowkit will be your first apprentice. You have been an inquisitive, strategic warrior. I ask that you pass on your curiosity and intelligence to your apprentice."

I touch Minnowk—er, Minnow_paw_'s nose and give him a gentle smile. He looks slightly less nervous.

"Cloudflash," Streamstar continues, "This will also be your first apprentice. You have been persistent and loyal, and I ask you to pass on your steadfastness and faith for the Clan to Mudpaw."

Cloudflash and the newly-named Mudpaw touch noses as well, and we stand and face the Clan as they chant the apprentices' new names. "Minnowpaw! Mudpaw! Minnowpaw! Mudpaw!"

Once the chanting fades out, and most of the cats below start dispersing throughout the camp, our new apprentices leave the Highrock, Minnowpaw first throwing me an inquisitive glance as though to ask if it's OK to leave. I nod, and he runs away with his brother. Cloudflash and I start down as well. He still hasn't tripped, so I keep an eye on his feet and give him a gentle push at just the right—or wrong, depending on your point of view—time. He stumbles and collapses on the floor of the tunnel. Getting up and shaking himself, he complains, "Hey! What was that for?"

"You still hadn't tripped! It's tradition for you to trip every time we visit the Highrock!" I say innocently.

"When did that become a tradition?" he asks.

I think about it. "Probably when we became warriors, it makes the most sense."

"How does it make sense?" he wonders.

"Well, you tripped when we became apprentices, but that was just once. Then, on the way up to our warrior ceremony, you fell on the way up _and_ down," I respond.

"Fine, if it's tradition," he sighs.

I don't walk two tail-lengths before I stumble myself. I highly doubt it's a coincidence. "Cloudflash!"

"What?" he asks innocently.

"Did you trip me?" I accuse him.

"Me? Of course not!" he reassures me. With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he continues, "Now, I may or may not have shoved a few pebbles in your path, but that isn't exactly _tripping_ you, is it?"

"Excuse me?" Mudpaw jumps into view.

I glance at Cloudflash. _Saved by the apprentice_. "Yes?"

"Are we going to actually do any training today? Or are you two just going to walk around camp trying to trip each other like a couple of kits?"

A cloud of dust billows up as Minnowpaw runs and skids to a halt next to his brother. "Mudpaw! Be polite! These are our _mentors_, remember? We'll be spending excessive amounts of time for the next six moons with them!" he hisses into Mudpaw's ear. He turns slightly and addresses us. "Sorry about my brother. He can be a little _rude_ sometimes." Minnowpaw gives his brother a glare and a slight shove at the word _rude_.

"We could all patrol some of the LakeClan border so you can get to know the territory a little better. Is that good with you, Silvermist?" Cloudflash looks at me inquiringly.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," I agree.

**_Several minutes later_**

After our tour of the border, Mudpaw and Minnowpaw are both exhausted. I don't blame them; they've only just left kithood, where the greatest form of exercise is a long game of tag.

"Can we head to the apprentices' den?" asks Minnowpaw.

"Yeah, I'm tired," Mudpaw complains.

Upon giving them our approval, they race each other to the apprentices' den. Just a few moments after they enter the den, we hear a couple of surprised yelps.

"I wonder what scary story they'll tell." Cloudflash's musings startle me.

"Who knows? Come on, let's go get something to eat. Mentoring is hungry work!"

**_Six moons later_**

A bush growing near the river gives me shelter as I watch. Swimming past me, a few fish come tantalizingly close, but I don't lift a claw. Today is Minnowpaw's final assessment, and I need to be silent. He's done an excellent job so far, keeping his shadow away from the water and aiming for where the fish _will_ be, not where it is. A few already-caught trout are concealed a bit downstream. Minnowpaw's eyes narrow slightly in concentration, then his paw darts out. Flopping on his claws is a fairly large minnow. Satisfied with his catch of river prey, and knowing that he needs to showcase all of his hunting skills, Minnowpaw—soon to be Minnow, well, Minnow-something else if this performance keeps up—puts the minnow with the rest of the fish he's caught, and heads into the forest, me slinking silently behind him.

I'm hiding behind a tree, observing Minnowpaw's stalking techniques. They aren't quite as refined as his fishing skills—the fish, after all, literally come to you, though getting them out of the river is harder than it looks—but he manages to catch a mouse. He comes close to getting a few birds, but they fly away before he can deliver the killing blow.

I decide that Minnowpaw has done very well indeed, and this portion of his assessment is over. I can smell his small pile of freshkill as I approach him. "Good job, Minnowpaw!" I praise him.

He sets down the mouse he was bringing to his pile of prey. "Thanks! Do I pass?"

"Well, if I have any say in it, you certainly do! At least, you do for this part. You have your fighting assessment this afternoon, remember?" I reply, stifling an amused purr.

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that." His shoulders slump—my shy, nervous apprentice always liked hunting better than fighting.

"Just remember, you move slower in water than in land, but you're harder to grab onto in water, and you can move up and down a little more freely in the water." I give him a last few reminders on his weakest areas.

"Okay. I'll try to remember." Grabbing a trout in his mouth and tucking the mouse under his chin, he sets out for camp.

I follow, grabbing the remaining two fish and grimacing. Trout never was my favorite.

Minnowpaw has just enough time to gobble down a piece or two of freshkill before it's time for his fighting assessment. I won't be testing him, as his mentor, I would have much greater knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses, and might unconsciously make the fight easier or harder for him. An enemy wouldn't have such extensive knowledge, after all.

**A few hours later**

Although it's clear he has a few bruises and will be rather sore tomorrow morning, Minnowpaw comes back from his fighting assessment looking very cheerful. "I did it! I passed! I'm going to be a warrior!" he tells me excitedly.

"Wonderful! I can't wait for your warrior ceremony!" I congratulate him.

He bounds off to tell his mother. As for me, I pad over to talk to Cloudflash. "How did Mudpaw do on his assessments?" I ask as way of greeting.

Cloudflash whips his head around. I must have startled him. "He did pretty well. His fishing was a little sloppy, but from what I hear, his fighting was incredible. He'll make a great warrior."

"Minnowpaw was almost exactly opposite—average fighting, but wonderful at hunting. They'll be good additions to the warrior den," I tell him. "So, we've been mentors now!"

"Yes, we have! We could be chosen as deputies!"

"Well, not quite yet," I remind him. "Minnowpaw and Mudpaw aren't warriors _yet_, and besides, LakeClan doesn't _need_ a new deputy, thank StarClan."

"Mm. When do you think the warrior ceremony will be?" he wonders.

I glance up at the sky. The sun is just starting to set. "Probably tomorrow morning, but it could be tonight as well."

He is about to reply, but is interrupted by the call of "Let all cats old enough to swim gather here beneath the Highstone to hear my words!"

Once we're all assembled, Streamstar speaks again. "Two of our apprentices are ready to become warriors. Minnowpaw, Mudpaw, please join me on the Highstone."

Our two apprentices, both looking distinctly nervous, slip into the leader's den and appear next to Streamstar.

Streamstar faces Mudpaw first. "I, Streamstar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Mudpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect the Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Mudpaw replies, his voice trembling slightly.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Mudpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Mudpelt. StarClan honors your courage and your skill in battle, and we welcome you as a full warrior of LakeClan." Streamstar rests his head on Mudp-Mudpelt's shoulder, and he licks Streamstar's shoulder.

Mudpelt backs up to give Minnowpaw some room.

"I, Streamstar, call upon our warrior ancestors to look upon this apprentice. He has undergone much training to understand the ways of your honorable code and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Minnowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend the Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Streamstar asks him solemnly.

"I-I do," Minnowpaw swallows nervously.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Minnowpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Minnowfleck. StarClan honors your patience and your kindness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of LakeClan." Minnowpa-fleck licks Streamstar's shoulder as our leader rests his head on Minnowfleck's shoulder.

"Mudpelt! Minnowfleck! Mudpelt! Minnowfleck!" Cloudflash, the new warriors' parents, and I are the first to start chanting.

We congratulate them on their new status when they finally descend from the Highstone, and then accompany them to the warriors den. There, Minnowfleck and Mudpelt tell some story about hunting alone in the forest, sufficiently spooky to satisfy us, and curl up to go to sleep.

_**The next night (apparently because of the tell-a-scary-story tradition, the new warriors sit vigil the night after the night they are made warriors. Oops.)**_

I'm jerked out of my peaceful slumber by a yell. Next to me, Cloudflash sits up, startled.

Minnowfleck bursts into the den, eyes wild, pelt ruffled. "GustClan's attacked! Help!"

"Where's Mudpelt?" asks Redberry.

Now that I'm a bit more awake, I notice that Minnowfleck's brother is nowhere to be seen. Usually they're side by side. Unless...

Minnowpaw's next words confirm my fear. "He's been captured by GustClan."

* * *

******Aww, Silver is finally getting used to life in LakeClan. Just as it's about to be ripped away! *looks innocent* What? I didn't say anything!**

**Oh, and by the way, if you look back at the story, you'll notice that I try to almost never use the words 'say' or 'says' or 'said', etc. In fact, after the first few chapters, I never do use those words to tell you who is talking. I either use context or some other word, like 'yell' or 'whisper' or 'hiss'. It's a neat little trick to add a little variety to your writing. I also find it entertaining to look and see how often the word 'said' is used in actual books. You'd be surprised, half the time I get sick of the word and am like, AUGH! IT BURNS!**

**Nonotreally. Butstill. I am incredibly surprised at how often actual writers use the word 'said'. It's like, Amy said, said Dan, Ian said, Natalie said, said Isabel, Hamilton said, said Sinead AND ON AND ON AND ON with the occasional 'questioned' or 'replied' stuck in. (Incidentally, all of those characters are from 39 Clues, a series by Rick Riordan [well, a series by a multitude of authors] that is very awesome and should be read by all you reviewers.)**

**Oh, and do me a favor, would you? Tell me if I'm making the cats too human. I have SO MUCH trouble with that.**

**And I feel really out of practice in writing.**

**Also, Pottergirl1? And any other HP fans reading this? If you haven't already, go read Just A Random Tuesday... by Twistedbiscuit RIGHT NOW. It is pure epic mixed with awesome. Seriously. I was bursting out laughing when I was reading it. ("Her robes billowed behind her so elegantly that it would have made Snape envious [had he ever been aware of his robes billowing]" is a quote from it.)**

**And HOLY COW, GUYS! I just looked at my stats and this story has gotten over FIVE HUNDRED views! Yes, that's HUNDRED! I feel so loved! Thank you!**

**Oh, and on the LakeClan gathering call? Looked it up on the Warriors wiki and apparently the RiverClan meeting call is different from ThunderClan's, so I implemented that.**

**I really did not see that whole Mudpelt-capture twist coming. Dang. This story has a life of its own. Maybe it'll take an extra two chapters to fit everything in.**

**Also, Pottergirl1? Yes, I watched Doctor Who as you requested. And it. Is. Awesome. Scratch that, it's FANTASTIC! BRILLIANT! And all those other words. (Mothstar will already know this, me having ranted about it for the past 3-ish weeks). I've already made my best friend in real life start watching it as well. Also Mothstar will begin it eventually.**

**DISCLAIMER: (once again written before most of the chapter)**  
_**Hey Cloudflash.**_  
**Cloudflash: Hey. Is Silvermist doing this too at least? And why do you sound all stuffed up?**  
_**Got a nosebleed. And yeah, Silver's doing the claimer.**_  
******Cloudflash: **Good. Now, what do I need to read?  
_**Uh, hang on. *looks for disclaimer paper* I...can't seem to find it.**_  
******Cloudflash: **You _what_?!  
_**I can't find the disclaimer paper.**_  
******Cloudflash: **Ugh! I'll do one myself!  
_**No! Wait! You've not read the books, how will yo-**_  
******Cloudflash: ***interrupts me* Moonmist18 does not own the Warriors series, otherwise Omen of the Stars would be a _heck_ of a lot less complicated what with the Dark Forest and all. She does not own anything else you may recognize, unless it's from earlier in the story.  
_***stares at him* How did you know all that?**_  
******Cloudflash: **Simple. I escaped from the room. The fourth wall is broken. As it has ever since you started doing this style of disclaimer.  
_***in room* *another chunk of wall falls to the floor***_  
_**Aah! Why didn't anyone **_**tell**_** me? *rushes over to wall to try and fix it***_  
******Cloudflash: **Silvermist was a bit distracted, all the other cats were preoccupied with being snatched out of LakeClan, and I've just been waiting to use it. And fixing it is an exercise in futility, as it'll just keep breaking every time you bring one of us in here.  
_...I hate you._  
**Cloudflash: Yeah, yeah. Can I go now?  
_...I suppose._  
****Cloudflash: *leaves***  


**********CLAIMER:  
_Hi Silver._  
Silver: Hey.  
_I seem to have lost my claimer paper._  
************Silver: Well that's unfortunate. Does that mean I can leave now?  
**_No, you still have to do the claimer._  
**********Silver: *notices missing wall* Woah! Where'd that come from?  
**_Yeah, apparently I've been breaking it by bringing you guys in here to do the claimer and disclaimer. Stupid fourth wall._  
**********Silver: o.o  
**_Ignore me. You know the claimer, right? I do own you, Cloudflash, Mist, the Clans, etc..._  
**********Silver: Oh, yeah, that. *clears throat* Moonmist18 does own me, Mist, Cloudflash, LakeClan, ShadeClan, StormClan, GustClan, the Black Pack *pauses* Seriously? You own those? Can you destroy them then?  
**_Yeah, I could, but that'd ruin the plot._  
**********Silver: ...I hate you.  
**_I don't really care. Continue._  
**********Silver: *sighs* and anything else she created. Such as the plot for this story.  
**_*another chunk breaks off wall*_  
**********Silver: She also owns her cruel, callous attitude towards her characters by making them _betray_ and _murder _their best friends.  
_Hey!_  
************Silver: It's true! Can I go now?  
**_Fine_.  
**********Silver: *leaves*  
_Sheesh, all my characters hate me today. *looks at reviewers* You guys still like me, right?  
... *crickets*_  
**_**Right? Guys?  
**__**... *more crickets*  
**__***sighs* Fine then.**_

**Kthxbai. See you in Chapter 14. Oh, yes, title. Go read _The Mysterious Benedict Society_ to understand it.**


End file.
